


Space Between Me To You

by TsukkiNoNeko



Category: Haikyuu!!, K (Anime)
Genre: (Also the timeline alterations are really big in my fic), (DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT WHO DIES OKAY), (I REPEAT MY ABOVE RATING), (Mikoto is alive for the entire story), (basically nothing in the seasons and movies have happened apart from Fushimi's betrayal), (especially the last line), (for like the first 3k words), (implied that it's the firsts for both of them but it's dubious on Kuroo's part), (it still counts as one right), (only krtsk from HQ fandom is in K universe), (they skip the friend part but when do they not in my fics), Alternate Timelines, Blow Jobs, Character Death, Crossover, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, First Time, Gay Sex, Hand Jobs, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rimming, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:55:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22022923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukkiNoNeko/pseuds/TsukkiNoNeko
Summary: Being the Sceptre 4 third-in-command’s underling was never something Kei imagined wanting to do, but he was sort of recruited. Something about the Blue Clan needing another person with a brain, as Fushimi put it. He can tell the same-age kid was just as intellectual as he was, if notmore.or,Read at your own risk. KuroTsukki in K Project universe. I took out Kamamoto since he shares the seiyuu with Kuroo, lol.btw, this took about three months to write so that says a lot about my multitasking mode when it comes to writing multiple fics at once. (This one and all of my BSD fics were being written at the same time, actually)
Relationships: (implied Munakata Reishi/Suoh Mikoto), Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	Space Between Me To You

**Author's Note:**

> Some headcanons used like:
> 
> – Blue Clansmen can use ice but in which shape&form depends on the user (like icicle spears is how Tsukki uses his ice affinity)
> 
> – which means top-rank Green Clansmen can use lightning, but the power depends on how strong the individual is (Nagare's lightning would be thousand times more powerful than Yukari's, for example)
> 
> – ~~is SaruMi being exes a hc or just canon at this point~~
> 
> – Only the strongest Blue Clansmen can use the Blue Aura like a protective barrier (like how Fushimi did in the episode Mikoto breaks out of the cell) (so, it includes Tsukki, naturally)
> 
> – Like Anna, Kuroo got to keep his former Strain powers when he joined HOMRA

Being the Sceptre 4 third-in-command’s underling was never something Kei imagined wanting to do, but he was sort of recruited. Something about the Blue Clan needing another person with a brain, as Fushimi put it. He can tell the same-age kid was just as intellectual as he was, if not _more_.

_I rarely meet someone I can have a calm, resourceful conversation with to start with,_ Kei looks at the files Fushimi sent him earlier today.

The files were of a former Strain who recently pledged to serve Suoh Mikoto, the Red King. Kei wonders if the Strain had his own special ability that the Reds wanted. The former Strain has black hair that sticks out in every direction, a bit of it covering a smirking face that can be deemed ‘attractive’ under certain circumstances.

“Working hard?”

Kei clicks his tongue, looking at his superior. “Awashima-san. I have nothing new to report.”

“It’s not that. The new Red Clansman you’re looking at… he’s caused a ruckus with a bunch of our Clansmen, and now we need the more people to deal with him.”

“Kuroo Tetsurou… he isn’t a Strain anymore but he acts on his own?” Kei sighs this time.

Kei’s main role in Sceptre 4 is to help Fushimi, basically, whether that be with information stuff or a mundane _handling_ of some ruffian.

“Oya, you got more backup, Megane-kun?” Kuroo smirks, an annoying sight in Kei’s pissed off eye. “You got your Lieutenant to deal with me? I feel honoured.”

“Shut it,” Kei growls. “Why are you acting alone? You actually tracked down our Clansmen who were off-duty to piss them off, not to mention using your Aura so carelessly.”

“Tsukishima-kun—” Awashima starts, only to be interjected by Kuroo.

“Megane-kun Two, do you have a problem with me?” that smirk is back on that annoying face and Kei’s dominant hand twitches, itching to reach for his sword, Cynthia. He ignores his racing heart, deeming it due to the battle adrenaline. “Did you just feel the urge to slice me with your sword, Megane-kun Two? I’d as well, were I some stupid young’un.”

“I can clearly see why so many of my Clansmen are… agitated here…” Awashima sighs, like she’s tired of dealing with kids. “Please stop provoking those under my command, Kuroo-kun. Next time it happens—”

Kei barely has the time to put up a barrier made with his Blue Aura when someone drops from the sky with a loud war cry. The figure sets their course towards Fushimi, much to his surprise.

“Picking on HOMRA members, stupid monkey?” Kei clicks his tongue when he identifies the Red Clan’s third-in-command, the vanguard—Yata, also known as ‘Yatagarasu’. “Thought you knew better than bullying alongside some overgrown asshole.”

“Yata, I’m still here,” Kei growls, then recomposes himself. “I mean, the view from up here is better than… however tall you are, chibi.”

“I’m here to collect the stray cat before he attracts the rest of you Blues,” Yata grouses. “Do not follow us, or you’ll feel Yatagarasu’s wrath.”

Something like an explosion of red flame erupts around Kei and the rest of Sceptre 4, causing haze to rise up. By the time the haze clears up, the two HOMRA members are long gone from their sight.

Kei finds himself staring in the direction towards the HOMRA bar, a foreign feeling bubbling up inside him.

///

Kei stretches in his chair, trying to stop himself from yawning too wide as he processes through some data. He decides to look up on Kuroo.

“‘Kuroo Tetsurou, DOB: November 17th of 1991’… ‘height: 188cm’… his birthplace isn’t specified, huh… how can we have his DOB but not where he was born?” he mutters, hoping no one can hear him. “‘Strain up until recent joining of HOMRA. Seems to be able to blast his Red Aura.’”

_So the explosion was his doing, not Yata’s… coming to think about it, Yata has to be connected to the subject of his Red Aura whenever he draws it from the Red King, Suoh…_

“Yeah, that bastard can manipulate his Red Aura in to mini explosives,” Fushimi seems to have sneaked up on him. “Something I can do with my Blue Aura.”

“Not your Red one, huh?” Kei blurts out before he realises he voiced that aloud.

“The rumours spread fast, I see,” Fushimi clicks his tongue. “Only the Dresden Slates know why and how I kept the Red Aura when I… made my exit. You’ll be the first to know when I find out myself.”

Kei ignores he dripping sarcasm. “He can also hold his own, if he managed to provoke five of our Clansmen and injured all of them… he’s a dangerous person whom we have to keep an eye on…”

“Not many Strains willingly join Clans, that’s true,” Fushimi shrugs.

“Then why would Kuroo join the Red Clan?” Kei asks fruitlessly.

Fushimi waves on his way out, leaving Kei with some work.

///

Kei ditches his Sceptre 4 uniform for a pair of slashed black jeans, a plain red shirt, and a black cardigan on his day off. He heads to one of the small parks in Tokyo Metropolitan to just listen to music as he relaxes, looking at nowhere in particular. He finds himself clicking his tongue when he sees Kuroo from a distance, headed directly towards him. He finds frosts forming where he’s gripping onto the bench, and thanks to his _amiable personality_ , Kuroo grins his stupid grin, stopping in front of him. A grin that stirs up something inside him. Again.

“Megane-kun Two, was it?” Kuroo extends a hand. “I’m Kuroo Tetsurou.”

“You’re an idiot if you think I don’t know your name with the database I’ve access to,” Kei hisses. “Why are you here?”

“I come here as an inhabitant of Tokyo,” Kuroo waves an index finger. “Undercover or not—”

“I’m not undercover. Just off duty,” he wonders what he did in his past life to have deserved this torture.

“— _rude_ or not, you can’t find fault in me for wanting to head out here on such a beautiful fall day,” Kuroo grins again; Kei wants to caress— _what is wrong with me?_

Kei drones Kuroo’s words out as he tries to process his thoughts. He wants to _touch_ Kuroo? Why on Earth? Admittedly, Kuroo’s face is somewhat… attractive, he’ll state that much. But relationships are taxing, and unnecessary, whether they be platonic, romantic, or familial. He went through elementary school to high school without bothering to make friends—or _boyfriends_ for that matter. He rarely felt the need to reciprocate romantic kind of love.

_Love is weakness_ , Kei reminds himself. _Even familial love… well, I haven’t heard from my older brother or my parents since I got this ‘government job’ two months ago. I’m simply drawn to this man because he continues provoking me for his own amusement._

“Megane-kun, are you listening to me at all?” Kuroo’s voice is too close to his ear, _invading_ his much-needed personal space. “I was lecturing about how young’uns these days—”

“You aren’t much older than me, so you don’t have to,” Kei notices how low Kuroo’s tank top arm holes are and he can see that Red Clan insignia tattoo on his left side, now sat next to him on the bench. “Mind moving? I do need my personal space, mind you. Surely a brute like you understands that basic stuff?”

“Tsukishima Kei, right? You work with Fushimi with database and computer stuff back in your headquarters,” Kuroo keeps that smug look on his stupidly attractive face. “I heard a great deal about you from my Strain friends.”

“Why did you join HOMRA? There’s no merit for you to join a Clan when you’ve been a Strain for how long now?” he growls, figuring he can’t get rid of Kuroo.

Instead of an answer, Kei finds himself backed against the bench, Kuroo’s arms bracketing his head in between them. He glares at the older male, willing him to go the fuck away when he feels a change. For whatever the reason, he feels calm and not really in a mood to, say, punch Kuroo’s face. He decides to ignore his racing heart, willing it to calm down when it keep refusing to.

_A power that would benefit the Reds…_ Kei curses.

“Oya, something wrong, Megane-kun Two?” Kuroo purrs his words out, and Kei makes the mistake of looking into those deep amber eyes. “Everything will be alright, if you just relax…”

Kei finds himself calming down as he watches to slow rise and fall of Kuroo’s chest, and he wonders if Kuroo’s powers aren’t _that_ bad as he initially thought. He might have showcased his powers in front of civilians if not for Kuroo’s special ability.

“Feeling better now, Megane-kun Two?” Kuroo takes an uninvited seat next to him. “Didn’t mean to overdo with that, sorry.”

“You don’t just provoke people for fun; you use your ability to play with their emotions,” Kei hiss-whispers. “Don’t you feel bad for that?”

“I can only amplify what the person is already feeling,” Kuroo replies, seemingly honest. “That was my ability as a Strain that I got to keep.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he ignores how their shoulders are touching, and how it makes him feel something foreign.

“You asked; I answered,” Kuroo shrugs. “Nothing wrong with that.”

“But—”

“So what? You guys already have the resources for everything; might as well add a bit more.”

///

Kei returns to the dorm, feeling a bit weird after talking to Kuroo. The Red Clansman’s stupid smirk replays in his head over and over again until Kei falls asleep.

He doesn’t question it when he dreams about that stupid smirk.

///

Kei wakes up pissed off.

Kei barely says ‘hi’ to the other Clansmen, and he must be looks pretty pissed off as he feels, or Fushimi would be jibing at him right now. He takes a seat next to where Fushimi would be, and loads a file that just got sent.

His face feels warmer than the usual as Kei adds what Kuroo told him yesterday to the existing database. He reminds himself that he did nothing wrong, that he’s simply doing his job. Once he updated the data on Kuroo, he dives into the reports he’s supposed to go through and organise by tomorrow morning.

///

Kei’s given a two-hour break for his lunch time. He chooses to go over to the park he was previously interrupted his peace by Kuroo. He likes the park, but like the arrogant bastard implicitly told him, it’s a public place.

“Oya?” Kuroo’s face morphs into that familiar smirk when he spots Kei. “Lunch break, I suppose? You need to eat when you’re that tall and freakishly skinny. It’s like your arms are going to break off if I hit it with a ball or something.”

“I’m not much taller than you,” Kei grouses.

“But still lacking muscle mass,” is all Kuroo says before seizing Kei’s wrists. “I highly doubt—”

Kuroo curses when Kei summons his Blue Aura, making his wrists ice-cold so his unwelcomed enemy Clansman would release him—and he does. He looks less than pleased.

“I meant your physical strength, but I suppose this is your way of defending yourself,” Kuroo chuckles. “I heard you were recruited by Megane-kun One.”

“I’m honoured you know,” Kei shows his willingness to ignore Kuroo as he grabs the sandwich he brought.

Kuroo doesn’t leave; in fact, he takes a seat next to Kei. He glares at him as he’s being watched, finishing his sandwich. Kuroo keeps his stupid smirk the entire time.

“What do you want?” Kei enunciates.

“You’re surprisingly cute for someone such a height,” the opposing Clansman muses. “It’s like watching a newborn kitten trying to bite someone, but it doesn’t hurt at _all_.”

“Don’t go around calling me cute, _Red Clansman_ ,” he hisses, now pissed off beyond measure at Kuroo’s jibing. “You don’t know me.”

“I know enough,” Kuroo snarls, lips morphing to mock that of a cat when it’s about to attack.

///

Kei clocked back in early, ignoring Fushimi and Munakata asking what happened. Even after finding out Kuroo’s kept Strain powers, he was careless around him, and giving him the upper hand.

_Letting him get to me with my frustration as a huge mistake,_ Kei growls inside his head. _Why do I get the feeling he let me know what his powers are? Is there a scheme behind that?_

“Tsukishima-kun,” Awashima calls him. “I have been told that you’ve been badgered by Kuroo Tetsurou ever since we had to retrieve Fushimi-kun?”

“Maybe.”

“I had Akiyama-kun, and several others, telling me that they saw him talking to you at the park near the Sceptre 4 dormitory,” she presses.

“Yeah, nothing I couldn’t handle,” Kei hisses back, hurriedly adding, “Awashima-san.”

“He’s getting to you, huh?” she shakes her head. “Don’t let him get to you too much. I believe Fushimi-kun recruited you due to your collected intellectual side. Stay that way for Sceptre 4.”

“He’s using his special power to get to me, I’ll try not to goad him anymore, Awashima-san,” he sighs. “What’s up with all these files?”

“Strains,” Awashima looks as bored as she is frustrated. “It seems your… _friend_ , to put it lightly… has managed to get his Strain friends to wreak havoc without having them join the Red Clan.”

///

Kei asks for Awashima’s permission to be a part of the investigation team. He isn’t pleased that there’s an explosive ring of Red Aura around the area the team is supposed to go to.

“This is why I hate bullies,” Kei sighs, already bored with this task.

Kei has a good hold of his Aura, which is why he can create a thin layer of Blue Aura shield around himself, something only the top-of-the-tier of Blue Clan can to do. He uses that to advance forward, greeted by Kuroo, the culprit himself.

“Did you join HOMRA so you can gain new powers for your friends?” Kei bellows, concentrating on his icy shield to sustain all the damage the fiery storm is causing. “Pathetic.”

“It’s a win-win if the HOMRA gets extra intel, and Mikoto-san had no problems with it,” Kuroo replies calmly as Kei advances forward. “Such a pretty face that might go to waste, Tsukki.”

The nickname sounds half-condescending and half-provocative. Kei loses his cool and throws a few icicle spears at Kuroo at point-blank. Kuroo curses when his cheek gets shallow cuts.

“I’m not big on violence, but if you provoke me, I will retaliate,” Kei states. “Surrender, and we’ll see where that ends up for you.”

“I don’t surrender to tall twinks,” Kuroo snarls, face looking like a feline, and for a second, Kei wonders if Kuroo’s ‘affinity’ is feline, like Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow, is Yata Misaki’s, hence the ‘stray cat’ reference. “I like putting up a fight before I’m to be taken in custody y’know.”

Kei draws his Blue Aura in and focuses it onto his fingertips as he grabs Kuroo’s wrist. The bastard uses that to his advantage and pulls him closer, their breaths mingling. He takes a sharp breath in, not used to being _this_ close to anyone.

“I’d like for you to try freezing me, Tsukki,” Kuroo purrs, the words oddly soothing. “I doubt you can.”

“Tsukishima-kun! Fall back!” Kei thanks whoever’s listening that his superior got here just in time. “Kuroo Tetsurou, we have full authority to take you in. Surrender, or we’ll use force to make you.”

“Sceptre 4 really hates me, huh? Sending their number three and two to me all the damn time?” a sliver of Red Aura explodes behind Awashima. “Who’s next, the Captain?”

“He has better things to do than clean after you,” he puts more into his Blue Aura, making Kuroo hiss from the coldness. “Surrender.”

“Like hell.”

Kei knees Kuroo in the stomach, the force big enough to take him under.

“Hah…”

///

Kei knew his luck was up when Awashima lets him have the honours of questioning Kuroo. Their cell isn’t the best with air conditioning, so he pulls his jacket off as soon as he begins.

“Ooh, feisty,” Kuroo jests. “Tell me, why am I here?”

“You’re a part of HOMRA, and you broke a few rules, that’s all,” Kei states. “Now, tell me why you don’t hang around your comrades? Yata seems to be the only one who can tolerate you.”

“Bringing up my Strain past, are you now?” Kuroo chuckles. “Some of them still talk to me, and willingly became Mikoto-san’s informants. Most of HOMRA thinks I should cut ties with my friends. Yata is the type to admire those with power, and I’m almost even with him in that area. Haven’t I told you this already?”

“Then gimme an answer that I’ll be satisfied with!” he ignores the chains rattling when grabs Kuroo by his collar. “You’re doing it right now, aren’t you?”

“What, using my powers?” Kuroo sneers. “I love how your eyes look when you’re angry, Tsukki. So pretty.”

Kei blushes despite himself.

“I know you don’t hate me, Tsukki. That’s why you can’t control your feelings when you’re around me,” Kuroo goes on. “I told you, I can only amplify what you already feel for me.”

“I don’t like you,” Kei wants to be louder, but it fails. “I don’t…”

“Then try me,” is all Kei hears before Kuroo’s face blurs his vision, connecting their lips together.

+++

Tetsurou was not anticipating Tsukishima to be _this_ cute when he first heard Sceptre 4’s Fushimi got some sort of an assistant. He planned on playing with all the angst and frustration the Blue Clansman might have towards him, but only thing he could find was feeling of _longing._ He figured the kid didn’t even realise it himself, and he was right. He figured Tsukishima was used to repressing his feelings to the point of not knowing it when he fell for someone.

That’s precisely why he decided to kiss the pretty boy, to see how he’d react.

Tsukishima’s eyes are comically wide, something Tetsurou witnesses before he closes his eyes, trying to pry the other boy’s lips a little bit. He gets his permission granted, and he kisses Tsukishima for a bit before pulling away.

“You’re too gentle,” Tetsurou mumbles.

“I was not expecting to be kissed by a ruffian today,” Tsukishima hisses. “If you try again, I’ll arrest you for the second for public indecency.”

“Making out in a cell is a crime now?”

“You’re a Red Clansman who caused way too much trouble for Sceptre 4, so I think I can draw out some faults from those incidents,” Tsukishima points out.

///

Tetsurou fixes himself a nice bath when he goes back to his apartment once he was released after his questioning was over. Awashima stared at him, like she can’t believe Munakata was letting him out. He strips down, and sinks into the claw-footed bathtub. (He’s acquired wealth from his businessmen parents, or rather, monthly money transfers in his bank account.) The steam says his bathwater is extremely hot, but it’s a temperature he can endure due to the Red Aura. Or, at least he thinks that’s how he can be in such steamy bath and not be boiled. His thoughts drift towards his encounter with Megane-kun Two, and just like that, his cock starts to harden. He lets out an exaggerated sigh, thinking about those strawberry-coloured lips. Before he realises, he has his hand wrapped around his dick, stroking as soft moans leave his lips. He feels dirty, wanking off to thoughts of a certain prickly moon.

“God, he is just the embodiment of Moon, isn’t he? Beauty and all?” his words are spoken out loud, and he doesn’t care that he admitted it. “I want to kiss him again.”

His mind’s eye is already creating an image of Tsukishima on his knees, sucking him off—

“Fuck!” he hisses, stroking himself a few more times before he sags against the tub, catching his breath. “Damn, looks like his crush isn’t so one-sided after all…”

///

Tsukishima looks like he’s in a foul mood next time they meet at a two-Clan skirmish. It was easy to track him down, as Tsukishima was just lurking in the shadows.

“Not a fighter?” Tetsurou throws a ball of his Aura, making it explode near the other boy. “C’mon, draw your sword. Fight me.”

“I’m more brains than brawns,” Tsukishima’s hand goes to the hilt of his sword nonetheless. “But I will draw my sword if you try to do something funny again.”

“Didn’t like my kiss that day, did you now?” he jibes, trying to get a reaction out of it. “Did I take poor Tsukishima Kei’s first kiss?”

Tsukishima’ hand tightens around the sword’s hilt, confirming his guess.

“Ah, I wish I could say ‘sorry’ and mean it,” he goes on. “Explains why—”

Currents of icy wind leave welts on the exposed part of Tetsurou’s body when Tsukishima suddenly draws his sword, slashing from afar, but still leaving damage. He barely has the time to dodge the next waves of icy wind currents. He ends up with his back against a streetlight, the situation oddly pleasing.

“If you’re mad about—”

“Do you go around kissing random people to play with their emotions?” Tsukishima whisper-yells at him. “I did not enjoy that at all.”

“I can sense something other than fury coming from you, Tsukki,” Tetsurou purrs. “And that’s what I can use against you, if you were to be less defensive. I can’t manipulate people’s mood all the time, you know. Certain conditions must be met.”

“Gosh, you’re just an overgrown kitten playing with a mouse, aren’t you?” Tsukishima sighs. His PDA beeps when he opens his mouth to say something. “My King is calling us back, and don’t bother provoking me next time. Next time, I’ll freeze your ass.”

///

Tetsurou would be lying if he said he didn’t wank off to Tsukishima again. He just fell in too deep, and he knows that too.

“Who knew I’d have a thing for a perpetually pissed off twink who’s tall as fuck?” Tetsurou muses to himself, letting Yata in when the other asks for permission to do so a few seconds later.

“I hear that Tsukishima kid is giving you some trouble,” his fiery-tempered comrade comments. “Why are you using your powers against him?”

“Yata-chan, I never used it against you, you know that, just like I haven’t on Tsukishima,” he pouts like a petulant kid, trying to change the subject slightly. “And you know I can’t create someone’s emotion they aren’t feeling already.”

“I’m not saying you’ve been using your _gift_ on your Clansmen,” Yata sighs. “I just don’t think it’s okay for you to provoke Tsukishima in that way.”

“I haven’t—”

Yata gives him a _look_. Tetsurou knows better than to provoke the Red Clan’s vanguard so he just nods.

“I don’t want you to abuse your power, Tetsurou,” Yata warns him. “I will have Mikoto-san hear about it if you do it again.”

“Are you mad because I can sense how much you still love your ex?”

_Bingo_.

“What happened between me and Saruhiko doesn’t concern you,” Yata looks like he wants to punch someone. “Leave it alone.”

///

Tetsurou finds himself at the park he kept seeing Tsukishima at. The kid’s there, munching on his sub. He doesn’t greet the Blue Clansman as he’s sidling next to him.

“What do you want?” the words come out like a growl, a sexy sound under different circumstances.

“You,” Tetsurou replies honestly. “I’ve been dreaming about you.”

“I’m not your usual targets,” Tsukishima scoffs. “It takes more than a few hostile encounters for someone to woo me.”

“I heard Megane-kun One and Yata-chan used to date,” he changes the subject. “Does Megane-kun One… seem off around Yata-chan?”

“He seems more tense than the usual,” Tsukishima finishes his sub and brushes the crumbs off his lap. “Why?”

“I think I’m allowed to be concerned for my fellow Clansman,” he shakes his head. “What have you been up to?”

“Visualising ways to kill a certain stray cat,” Tsukishima sounds like he’s joking, but his face is grim. “It’s very tempting.”

“Well, tempting or not, I intend to stay alive for a long time,” he pouts.

“Don’t pout. You don’t look any cuter by doing so,” Tsukishima tells him in a gruff tone. “Not that you already look cute.”

“That’s a small dent on my ego, Tsukki,” he wants to reach out and take Kei’s hand, but he refrains himself. “Are you still in denial?”

“Denial of what?” Tsukishima sounds genuinely confused.

“So you truly are clueless?” he reaches out to grab Tsukishima’s bicep, but the other boy slaps his hand away. “You don’t know why I kissed you?”

“To humiliate me, that’s my guess,” something about Tsukishima’s tone feels off, and Tetsurou wants to find out _why_. “I don’t like you, Kuroo, and don’t make me arrest you.”

“Oya?” he’s intrigued by the threat. “Tsukishima, you are one _very_ interesting person.”

Tetsurou rises from the bench and leaves the park, not testing Tsukishima’s patience.

///

That night, Tetsurou is unable to sleep, so he gets out of his apartment and heads to the park he’s fond of these days. Much to his surprise, Tsukishima is there as well, sat on the bench both of them have been occupying last few weeks every time they’re there. The Blue Clansman barely gives him a nod of acknowledgement when he sits next to him.

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Tsukishima looks away from him. “Don’t you have better things to do than irritating me?”

“What, has someone else been bothering you?” Tetsurou asks, genuinely curious.

“No, but there’re only a few things in this world that _doesn’t_ piss me off,” the sincerity takes Tetsurou by surprise. “And you’re nowhere near it.”

“Figures,” he laughs, looking up into the sky to see a half moon. “The moon truly is beautiful.”

Tetsurou will be damned if Tsukishima thinks he meant _him_ , not the actual moon.

“You can say that,” Tsukishima doesn’t give off any hints of having deciphered Tetsurou’s sudden comment. “I like taking moonlit strolls when there are too many thoughts in my head.”

“Why are you telling me that?” Tetsurou’s surprised _, genuinely_ surprised that the ever-prickly Tsukishima would choose to be honest with him.

“Well, it’s not like I hate you,” his heart starts to race. “And you aren’t the worst company to have.”

“Have you been hit by a Strain’s power to be honest with everyone?” he’s suspicious now.

“No, you asked me if I’m in denial, and here’s my answer.”

Tetsurou gasps, eyes widening when Tsukishima cups his face and kisses him on the lips.

+++

Kei knows better than to lie to the former Strain when he can sense his emotions. That’s the only reason why he kissed Kuroo. It’s odd, this feeling of keep wanting someone else, _demanding_ to be near someone and bask in their presence… he isn’t used to feeling this way.

_I stopped resisting the nagging feeling,_ he tells himself, looking at Kuroo’s dumbstruck face. _I like Kuroo, and that’s not going to change_.

The last couple of times he saw Kuroo at the park, he knew what Kuroo meant by he can only amplify what the target’s already feeling. He reckons that Kuroo accidentally amplified what he feels for the Red Clansman, but that’s a lie and they both know it.

He just fell for the enemy Clansman all on his own.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Kuroo blinks. “Finally decided to be honest with your feelings?”

“You knew I had feelings for you all along…” Kei muses. “Your powers truly are bothersome…” he clears his throat. “So now what? Isn’t it forbidden for people from different Clans to date?”

“There’s no such rule,” Kuroo scoffs. “I mean, if two people fall for each other, would their colours truly divide them? That’s such bull.”

“So, if we were to meet in a skirmish…”

“You just act like you usually do—look at me with that cute expression when you’re annoyed,” Kuroo replies, a sly smirk etched onto his face. “We don’t have to—”

“I do want to give it a try,” he interjects. “You’re too good-looking for me to pass up, though you’d be my first boyfriend…”

“I _would_ be?” Kuroo huffs. “That’s harsh. Wait, you never dated anyone before me?”

“No one was nowhere as intriguing as you are, and I didn’t have much interest in dating before I met you, Kuroo Tetsurou,” he feels his cheeks heating up when he remembers how Kuroo took his first kiss.

“Well, I think I’m gonna go sleep now… wanna come with?” Kuroo rises from the bench.

“I have to sleep in the dormitory, you know…” he reminds the other.

“Well, see you tomorrow, Tsukki!”

///

Now that Kei’s confronted with his feelings, he feels less distracted at work. Fushimi looks at him with an odd look, but he doesn’t say much. They are given the task of overriding a building’s security system in order to flush some Strains out.

“This is the most fun I ever had since joining Sceptre 4,” Kei comments sarcastically. He knows the reason he got recruited was because he was good with computer programing; he can’t really complain since he’s accepted the offer.

“I know you’d much rather spend time with your pet cat or something,” Fushimi clicks his tongue. “This is work, so suck it up.”

“How would you know if I were to have a pet cat?” he decides to enlighten his same-age Clansman.

“You seem like a cat person, that’s all,” Fushimi clicks his tongue again. “Let’s stop being chatty and focus more on the task at hand.”

_I do have a ‘pet cat’ in name of Kuroo Tetsurou_ , Kei muses to himself. _There are times when Kuroo acts somewhat like a cat._

_///_

Kei meets up with Kuroo at the park they bumped into the last time few times they saw each other. It wasn’t a hassle to find out Kuroo’s number, and Kuroo didn’t seem that bothered how he extracted that info. He finds Kuroo sat on the bench, yawning wide like a cat.

“Yo,” Kei greets Kuroo, who blinks slowly at him. “I knew I’d find you here.”

“This might as well as serve as our dating grounds,” Kuroo makes it ought to be a joke, but Kei can detect how he _actually_ wants this place to be their dating grounds.

“Here, we aren’t two people in opposing Clans. We’re just simply Tsukishima Kei and Kuroo Tetsurou,” he gulps. “Is that what you want?”

“And any other places we might visit, safe from our Clansmen’s prying eyes,” Kuroo muses. “Are you sure you want this?”

“You seemed to have figured out I have feelings for you before I did,” he hums. “But then again, you have your nifty manipulation powers.”

“I haven’t… I’m not good with relationships,” Kuroo’s confession takes him by surprise. “I don’t know how to act around my significant other.”

“Well, I just like you the way you are. Your annoying self is the one that won me over, so no need to fret,” he informs his boyfriend. “You don’t have to invent yourself a new personality around me, Kuroo Tetsurou.”

“Even when I may have tinkered with your feelings a little bit?” Kuroo admits amplifying Kei’s emotions.

“Well, it did make me realise my feelings for you, Kuroo,” he giggles, and it feels nice to be at ease around someone for once. “I already had feelings for you, didn’t I? You didn’t force me into liking you.”

///

Kei gets found out not long after he started dating Kuroo. He’s not surprised that it’s Fushimi.

“I’m not against it,” Fushimi muses as they gloss over the files. “I mean, you know about me and Misaki, don’t you?”

“You guys dated in the past, that’s all I figured,” Kei isn’t sure what Fushimi wants.

“And we’re trying to work shit out right now,” Fushimi hums, a happy-sounding one at that. He always thought Fushimi was an unhappy, cynic person. “Munakata-san will find out soon, and he can’t say shit about it either.”

“What does that mean?” he’s itching to _lightly_ stab his superior with the said superior’s own knife.

“He has a history with a certain King,” Fushimi hums again. “You can do the maths yourself.”

Kei goes back to his files when he gets a text message from Kuroo.

_From: stray cat  
when’s your lunch break? wanna meet up by our usual place?_

He agrees to it.

///

When Kei gets to their park bench, Kuroo has his body draped over the small object. When Kuroo notices him, he raises his torso just enough for Kei to sit down, then place his head on Kei’s lap.

“You’ve really wanted to do this for a while, haven’t you?” Kei giggles.

“I wanted to test out if your lap is as nice as it looks, and I got a ‘yes’,” Kuroo reaches his arm up to cup Kei’s face. “Your demeanour makes it seem like your skin is cold, but in reality, it brings me warmth that makes me happy.”

“You’re a sap, should’ve figured,” he tries to sound disgruntled, but Kuroo’s grin is too infectious for him to _not_ return it. “I’m smiling like an idiot, I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Kuroo hums. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have shown up here.”

“Smartass,” he dips his head down until their lips brush, not sure how comfortable he is with this PDA, but he says _fuck it_ to himself.

“ _Your_ smartass.”

They kiss, and it tastes like the sweetest kiss he’ll ever have.

///

It’s been two weeks since Kei decided to give dating Kuroo a try. He feels this weird euphoria whenever he’s with the other boy, and he’s okay with that.

_from: stray cat  
do you want to come over today?_

The message left Kei blushing madly, not sure of the real intention of him being at Kuroo’s. It’s true he can’t let Kuroo in, but he never thought it’d entail him into going over to Kuroo’s place.

“Someone seems to be blushing,” Fushimi chirps. “Relax, I’m not going to tell anyone about your boyfriend. There’s no merit in doing that. Haven’t we already had this conversation?”

“Yeah, but how am I to know if you’ve changed your mind since?”

“My relationship with Misaki is as… troublesome as yours with Kuroo. It’s best if we both kept this little secret between the two of us...” Fushimi clicks his tongue.

///

Kei gets Kuroo’s apartment address via text. He doesn’t know what his boyfriend is planning, but he’s nervous regardless of that. He’s been content with their park dates, he didn’t really think about coming over to Kuroo’s place.

“Welcome!” Kuroo hugs him, something Kei’s gotten accustomed to over last couple weeks. “I apologise if my place looks messy. I didn’t have a lot of time to tidy things up.”

“It’s decent,” Kei teases Kuroo. “I can still see the floor.”

“I borrowed a movie from a nearby place,” Kuroo looks excited. “Some American movie, I think. Thought we might watch it.”

The movie drones on when Kei initiates a kiss. The kiss soon turns into a make-out session, and Kei’ll admit how turned on he is; they are at a place where no one can watch them. He decides to be bold and cups Kuroo’s crotch, earning a small grunt. He’s never been intimate with someone, so he waits for his boyfriend to take the lead.

“What do you want to do?” Kuroo rasps out, the sound undeniably sexy to Kei. “Tell me.”

“Touch me, Tetsurou,” Kei whispers. “Touch me in ways no one else ever has.”

They resume kissing as Kuroo slowly undresses him. His uniform pools on the floor, and his breath hitches when his boyfriend touches his hardened dick.

“Tetsurou—” the name slips out again, and the owner seems to like that, responding with a low grunt.

“Mutual touching sounds okay to you?” Tetsurou asks; he nods. “Undress me then, Tsukki.”

Once they’re both naked, a wave of self-consciousness washes over Kei. He can see that Kuroo is far more defined, and that’s definitely sexy. He works out a bit, but clearly, his boyfriend works out more.

“Still okay with this?” Kuroo asks.

“If you ask me one more time, I’m leaving this place and never coming back,” Kei hisses.

Tetsurou finds the lube and squeezes it onto Kei’s palm before doing the same on his own palm. Kei grasps Tetsurou’s cock and just does what he likes on himself. Judging by how he moans and keens, he guesses his boyfriend likes it too. He hisses from surprise when Tetsurou thumbs at his slit on the cock-head. Before too long, he comes with a breathy version of ‘Tetsurou’ as Tetsurou comes with a soft grunt as well.

“Wanna take a bath together? It’s the least I can offer after coming all over your stomach,” Tetsurou smirks.

“It’s gonna be _just_ a bath,” Kei warns his boyfriend.

///

Kei has been dating Kuroo for a month when Munakata _finally_ confronts him about it.

“Tsukishima-kun,” the Captain of Sceptre 4, the Blue King, doesn’t look so happy. “I heard on the street that you’re dating a member of HOMRA.”

“Munakata-san, I—”

“While I am not pleased by that outcome, I do acknowledge you didn’t purposefully seek him out,” Munakata gives his puzzle a glance. “We don’t choose who we fall for.”

“Then why did you call me up here?”

“So you know better than to let your heart get into the way of your work,” Munakata states it like it’s self-explanatory. “You knew this; you knew the risk.”

“You’re the one to talk,” Kei recalls how Fushimi mentioned Munakata having a history with some other King.

“Oya? I don’t know what you mean, but I’m not going to be hard on you for dating someone from HOMRA,” Munakata goes on. “Just remember who your loyal to when it comes to Clan versus Clan.”

///

Kei goes over to Tetsurou’s the day Munakata scolded him about dating an enemy Clansman. They cuddle on Kuroo’s large sofa, and he thinks it’s his chance to get _hands-on_ with his boyfriend.

“Kei-chan, is there something you’d like for us to do?” Tetsurou asks when Kei’s stray hand goes near his crotch.

“I can feel your dick hardening against me,” he replies simply. “I can take care of that for you, if you’d like.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not really feeling it…” he gulps, wondering if his boyfriend would feel discouraged by that.

“It’s okay, I’m not dating you for sex,” Tetsurou tells him the words oddly soothing him, and Kei remembers his boyfriend special ability. “That’d make you my friend with benefit, would it not? I’ll admit being this physically close to you turns me on, but I won’t pressure you into doing something you don’t want to.”

“For now, I just want to touch you,” he states honestly. “But I don’t want it reciprocated tonight.”

Kei jerks Tetsurou off like the last time, watching the latter’s expressions closely. After his boyfriend comes, he uses a tissue to wipe it off, then kisses his boyfriend until he falls asleep.

///

It becomes a habit.

Kei would go over to Tetsurou’s place every now and then, and fall asleep there, as opposed to sleeping in his dormitory room. Munakata gave him _a look_ , but doesn’t comment on it otherwise. Fushimi isn’t the one to say when he’s basically doing the same thing with Yata.

“You seem to be in a good mood lately,” Domyoji comments one day as he delivers some paperwork to Kei. “Did something happen?”

“Didn’t know you were the one to gossip, Domyoji-kun,” Kei deflects out of habit. “Don’t you have work to return to?”

“You’re harsh as always,” Domyoji sighs as he leaves Kei’s working area. Fushimi, who’s close by, snickers.

“Oh, hush,” he hisses the moment Domyoji is out of earshot. “Do our fellow Clansmen know you’re back together with Yata?”

“Even if they did, it’s none of their business,” Fushimi points out, carding through the paperwork Domyoji just brought to them. “Damn, Munakata-san surely isn’t in a good mood today if he’s making _us_ do this sort of paperwork.”

“You don’t say…”

///

Kei practically bolts out of the Sceptre 4 building the moment he can for lunch. He goes to his usual meetup place with his boyfriend, not surprised to see him there already.

“Good day to you too,” Kei early squeals when Tetsurou pecks him on the nose. “Hey!”

“Sorry, I don’t have any self-restraint when I comes to you,” Tetsurou’s eyes glint like a predator’s—like a tiger’s eyes gleaming, ready to pounce on his prey. And Kei is a willing prey here in this equation.

“You’re so weird,” he shakes off this weird, giddy, floaty feeling. “Are you using your powers on me right now?”

“No, other than the one time I calmed you down from using your Blue Aura in public, I never used my powers on you,” Tetsurou replies, honesty dyeing his words. “Do you trust me?”

“I wouldn’t have given our relationship a try if I didn’t trust you,” he states the truth he knows and feels. “I enjoy your company, Tetsurou, and I’m glad I joined Sceptre 4.”

“I’m glad I joined HOMRA too, even though staying a Strain still would’ve made our paths cross,” Tetsurou winks, which Kei scoffs at. “What?”

“You’re too flirtatious with me,” he replies.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Not really, I just still don’t know how to deal with PDA,” Kei tugs at his boyfriend’s shirt. “Let’s go get lunch.”

///

Kei never thought he’d be the one to feed food to someone, but he does it for Tetsurou. He blushed a lot as he was doing it, and his boyfriend didn’t miss the chance to coo at him. After lunch, they went over to an ice cream shop close to the restaurant.

“You’re getting only one scoop?” Tetsurou exclaims like he just committed a crime. “You can’t just have one scoop! Your body needs energy! Make that two, please.”

Kei doesn’t try to counter his boyfriend, amused by how much Kuroo seems to care for his health. They sit on a bench, with Tetsurou stealing a bite from his ice cream. He does the same to his boyfriend, their non-ice cream holding hands holding each other’s.

“You have to be back at Sceptre 4 building, don’t you?” Tetsurou doesn’t sound all the enthusiastic.

“It’s called a job, and I’d like to keep it,” Kei chuckles. “Do you want to keep me all to yourself?”

“Well, are you going to come over tonight?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he chirps. “See ya then, handsome.”

///

Kei kisses his boyfriend the moment he’s inside his apartment. Tetsurou kisses him back, his hand going towards Kei’s ass. He moans into the kiss as his ass is given a slight squeeze, looping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. They kiss until they have to break apart for air.

“Are we going to kiss more?” Tetsurou teases him.

“Depends on whether you’re a nice kitten or not,” Kei teases back.

“Meanie,” Tetsurou chuckles.

Kei’s surprised when his boyfriend suddenly lifts him up and carries him to his bed. He’ll admit he is pleasantly surprised that his boyfriend swept him off his feet.

“You’re relaxed,” Tetsurou states as he gently drops Kei onto his bed, then crawls on top of him. “I thought you’d be kicking and screaming.”

“You’re my boyfriend, not my kidnapper,” Kei snorts. “Unless you like doing role-plays?”

“Hush, you,” Tetsurou laughs, making it physically impossible for him to reply by kissing him hard.

Kei melts into the kiss, cupping the base of Tetsurou’s neck with one hand. The kiss is making him feel lightheaded and giddy, a combination he’s starting to get used to as an effect from kissing his boyfriend. He’s also finding his—ahem—lower body reacting to their make-out session, and lets out an embarrassed little moan.

“How far do you want to go today?” his boyfriend asks him, a gentle lover as always.

“Mutually jerking off…?” Kei isn’t sure how far he wants to go. “Do you… want me to blow you?”

“Do _you_?”

Kei gnaws on his lower lip.

“I want to try…” Kei’s voice trails off, so unlike his intention. He knows he can show this side of him, the uncertain, insecure part, but he’s still new to the whole ‘opening up to someone’ thing. “I want to give it a try.”

Kei gulps the moment they’re both undressed. Tetsurou gets into a semi-sitting position, back prodded against the headboard. He gives his boyfriend’s cock a curious lick, earning a low moan. He hears something pop open when he wraps his lips around the leaking head, only to feel Tetsurou’s fingertips at his hole. He looks up to give his boyfriend a nod, and takes the entirety of his boyfriend’s dick in his mouth. Just around the same time, Tetsurou delves a finger inside him, making him jolt from the odd sensation. He bobs his head to resume what he was trying to do, only to be completely distracted by his boyfriend adding another finger. He decides he likes the feeling after a few minutes, how Tetsurou’s fingertips graze against a certain spot to make him jolt again. He figures that _spot_ is his prostate, and having his boyfriend stimulate that spot is sheer pleasure. He finds out not so long into him blowing Tetsurou that his boyfriend is fucking huge. It hurts to open up his jaw as wide as he can to fit all of Tetsurou’s dick in his mouth, so he resorts into stroking what he can’t fit.

“Fuck, is this really your first time blowing someone, Kei? You can’t be perfect at everything,” his boyfriend pants, curling his fingers towards Kei’s _spot_. “Liked that, didn’t you?”

Kei wants to retort that he’s only doing what he wants to be done to _himself_ , but he manages to hold his tongue. He stops after a bit, wiping at his mouth.

“My jaw hurts…” he confesses, earning a small groan from his boyfriend. “Can I finish you off with something else?”

“Jerk me off, and I’ll finger you some more? Is that okay?” he nods.

Kei mewls when he comes before his boyfriend, deciding this is a _much_ better way to orgasm.

“Sleep here tonight?” Tetsurou yawns, reminding Kei of a cat from how wide that mouth gapes.

“You know I will.”

+++

Tetsurou wonders how much Mikoto-san knows, and if he _does_ know, why he’s being lenient with him. There’s nothing good for the Red King if Tetsurou is in cahoots with someone who’s shown a good control of his Blue Aura. He wonders, briefly, if the Red King himself was in what would have been an inter-Clan relationship once.

“Kuroo!” Yata yells at him. “Stop zoning out and help me carry these beer cases!”

Tetsurou nods and heads over. Unlike most people in the Red Clan, he has parents who are loaded, so helping out at the bar and getting paid isn’t a necessity for him. He hasn’t contacted his parents in a _long_ time, but his bank account is a hefty as ever. It’s like they care about him at a _bare-minimum_ amount. He’s helping out at HOMRA out of his boredom, and Kusanagi knows that.

He never understood love, not when his parents never even pretended to love him. Without familial love, he never expected to find a _romantic_ interest with Tsukishima Kei.

The younger man was obstinate, Tetsurou’ll admit that. When he probed Kei’s emotions the first time, he almost found _nothing_. The other boy was almost devoid of feelings, apart from initial curiosity for _him_. Curiosity isn’t an emotion, he knows that, but he could still feel emotions _pointing_ towards it—being in awe, bewilderment, mildly surprised, the constant state of confusion, et cetera.

He didn’t realise he was doing this ‘emotional probing’ to Tsukishima because he was intrigued by the other boy. Yes, initially, he invaded Tsukishima’s privacy, but he tolerated him. Instead of fighting back, they just _tolerated_ each other’s company until both of them came to a realisation.

Tetsurou thinks it’s a blessing he came across _his_ Tsukki and experience all his firsts together.

///

Once Tetsurou is done helping Yata stock up the beer, he heads back home. He soon becomes aware of someone watching him, but he pretends not to have noticed that. The presence follows him from the bar all the way to his apartment. He jumps just in time before a green lightning hits the spot he was just standing on. He kicks his hidden dagger into his left hand and turns around.

“It’s not nice to creep up on people,” he muses, looking out for any signs of life.

“I never said anything about being fair, now did I?”

The voice is soft and smooth, and Tetsurou can easily tell this guy is used to speaking like this and backstab him when he’s least expecting him to. He swings his dagger in time to block a parry.

“Ah, I wasn’t expecting a Red Clansman to be good with a sword,” the intruder hums, like they’re having this conversation at a bar or something.

He’s good-looking, Tetsurou will give him that. As if to complement his soft voice, the swordsman looks soft _all over_. The black duster coat completes his all-black attire, and he can see the heeled boots are also black.

“I’m Yukari,” the swordsman-intruder— _Yukari_ —bows formerly. “I have my King’s order to bring you back to us, even though your JP hasn’t risen since your high school days, after I have assessed your abilities.”

“JP? You mean…”

“You’re smarter than you look,” Yukari smirks. “We can cheat the system and make you a J-Rank player so you can meet with my King.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Why wouldn’t you refuse?”

Icicle spears pierce the air as they fly by Yukari’s hair, trimming the ends just a little bit. This Yukari person seems to be taken aback by the sudden attack.

“No one close to being as pretty as me can talk to my boyfriend,” Kei, in his Sceptre 4 uniform glory, standing on the little ‘roof’ of the entrance leading into Tetsurou’s apartment, declares. “Mishakuji Yukari, is it? I have your profile from my workplace. Now,” Kei’s next bouts of icicle spears causes Mishakuji to jump away from him. “You pissed me off, and I’m letting you off with a warning.”

“Tsukki, I didn’t know—”

“I sent a text asking you to open the front door and you didn’t respond, of fucking course I had to make sure,” Kei growls at him. “Like I said, _no one as pretty as me_ gets to talk to _my_ boyfriend.”

“Possessive, aren’t you? That’s a behavioural trait I’d expect from cats, not some… _ah_ ,” Mishakuji sheathes his sword and jumps farther away from them. “This is going to be more interesting than I originally expected. Pardon my intrusion, now if you will…”

Another bout of lightning hits the ground and by the time dust clouds dissipate, Mishakuji is gone.

///

“Kuroo Tetsurou, don’t you _ever_ worry me like that again!” Kei slams his back against the door leading into his bedroom, tad bit too forceful than he’d prefer. “Fuck, you didn’t reply to my text for ten minutes when you were supposedly home after helping out at HOMRA bar!”

“Well, excuse me for being tailed by a tall, beautiful—” Kei glares at him. “—a tall, random dirtbag from Green Clan.”

Maybe the bite-and-tug on his upper lip was called for, Tetsurou notes in his head, and that turns him on immensely. He wants to credit that to his small fight with Mishakuji Yukari, but he knows he’s turned on by his _boyfriend_ not someone who tried to behead him.

“Wanna take this to bed?” Tetsurou rasps against his boyfriend’s lips.

“I’m mad at you,” Kei grabs his collars and practically throws him onto his bed. “You dare call him beautiful?”

“You look sexy when you’re pissed off. Also, you’re the most beautiful, talented person I know—”

He knows he deserved the second lip-tug. He wasn’t called the master of provoking (dubbed by Yata) for nothing. He moans at the feeling, legs bent as Kei claims his spot between them. A subtle movement of Kei’s hips soon follows, something Tetsurou responds by moaning.

“You’re hard,” Kei purrs, sounding like a sly vixen. “Do you like what you see?”

“I think I’m turned on by your anger,” Tetsurou hums, latching onto the pale patch of skin he can see above Kei’s collars and starts suckling, then releases to see a dark bruise forming.

“That’s going to stay for a while,” Kei feigns a sigh, a deliberate move Tetsurou decides to ignore for now.

“That’s the whole point of it, Kei-chan,” he kisses the mark he just created, earning a giggle from his boyfriend. “Who’d have known you possessed a cute side?”

“You’re the only idiot who tried to find out,” Kei replies smoothly, cupping Tetsurou’s hard-on before he can reply. “Lemme take care of that for you…”

All Tetsurou can do as Kei undoes his jeans and pulls them down alongside his briefs is _watch_. Those dainty, rosy-pink lips he’s addicted to wrap around his leaking tip before they leave it alone. He wants to whine, and he does, which earns a low chuckle from Kei. He wants to demand his boyfriend blow him all proper, but he decides to be a bit more patient.

Not long after the little teasing, Tetsurou thanks all the gods whose names he can remember, Kei’s lips find their way back to his shaft, but instead of stretching around his girth, they kiss a path down from the slit to his base. They wrap around Tetsurou’s tightened sac and Kei flicks his tongue against the underside before swallowing around the cock-head, then deep-throating all the way to the hilt. Not having expected that, Tetsurou almost chokes on his spit.

Kei looks up, glasses slanted a bit, and swallows, causing Tetsurou to twitch _a lot_. It takes all his willpower not to come right there and then, and looking into Kei’s moon-coloured eyes does him in.

“You don’t have to swallow that…” Tetsurou tells his boyfriend after he calms down from his high, which mostly comprised of his body jerking up like he just had his first orgasm. He blames that on his glasses-wearing boyfriend having such a cute ‘blowjob face’.

Kei’s Adam’s apple bobs a bit, showing that he attempted to swallow despite Tetsurou telling him it’s okay not to. He watches his boyfriend leave the bed for a moment to locate a trash can and spit into it.

“Tastes weird,” Kei complains. “But I want to swallow next time I blow you.”

“I thought you’d stop halfway through like the first time,” Tetsurou admits.

“… big, okay?”

“What was that?” he hums, thumb caressing Kei’s chin.

“Your dick is too big and makes me gag, _and_ my jaw hurts,” Kei mumbles, making it hard for Tetsurou to make out the words. “You lucky bastard.”

“You’re the lucky one here,” he barely makes a barrier with his pillow as his boyfriend tries to punch him. “And I thought you were more brains than brawns! What happened to being _not_ violent?”

“Your face attracts all sorts of trouble,” Kei takes the pillow from him and kisses his hard, making it hard for him to think. “If you _ever_ call Mishakuji Yukari beautiful again, I will personally geld you myself.”

“Duly noted,” he gulps.

+++

Kei knows being overly possessive is a behaviour of a wild animal, but he can’t help but _want_ to have Kuroo Tetsurou all to himself.

He’s also trying to get used to falling asleep in Tetsurou’s arms. They’ve got just the right amount of muscles to be all toned, but still soft enough as _arm pillows_. He giggles at the thought of how Tetsurou acts all tough sometimes, but he has _arm pillows_ with Kei’s name on it.

“I can practically hear your thoughts,” Tetsurou rasps, startling him. “I’m still awake.”

“And I’m still mad,” Kei remembers just in time that his _boyfriend_ called some swordsman wannabe _beautiful_. Especially the one who tried to _take him away_.

“You’re the only one I have my eyes on. Not even the Moon can compare to your beauty,” Tetsurou’s words bring heat to Kei’s entire face.

“You really are a sap, Kuroo Tetsurou,” he turns around in his boyfriend’s arms to nuzzle their noses together. “I guess that’s what I—”

Kei can practically feel the heat spreading throughout his body as he catches himself before saying the words he never thought he’d utter to someone outside his family. It almost _just_ slipped out, like he wasn’t thinking and his mouth was on auto-pilot.

“That’s what you like about me? That makes _you_ a sap as well, Tsukki,” Tetsurou pecks him on the lips.

“Now, let’s sleep before I get _madder,”_ Kei grouses.

“You aren’t mad to start with; never forget I can read your mood and emotions just as much as I can control them,” his boyfriend reminds him. “Not that I’d use my powers on you.”

“Mm, aren’t you romantic?” he wonders if Tetsurou has a feeling he was going to say something other than _liking_ the latter.

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Tsukki,” Tetsurou murmurs, then kisses him again before soft snores begin to leave him.

_I can’t believe you said it so effortlessly, Tetsurou_ , Kei muses to himself, turning the lights off by clapping his hands. _I’ll say it back when you wake up_.

///

Kei wakes up when his stupid alarm goes off. He almost forgot he has one more working day before spending the weekend with his boyfriend.

“Turn it off, turn it off,” his lovely boyfriend whines. “It’s the asscrack of dawn, who wakes up this early?”

“Tet-chan,” the nickname slips off easily, just how easily he _almost_ told his boyfriend he loves him. “I mean—”

“I already call you ‘Kei-chan’ and ‘Tsukki’, guess it’s only fair you start calling me by something equally as cute,” Tetsurou teases.

“Why do I love you again?” he blurts out, then freezes. _Not how I planned it!_

“You love me? Wait, last night…” Tetsurou curses.

“You technically beat me to it, Tet-chan,” he mumbles.

“‘Technically’?” Tetsurou wraps those tones arms around him, making it hard for him to leave the bed. “Tell me, and then you can get ready for your work you have to wake up stupidly early.”

“It almost slipped out last night after I blew you,” he admits to Tetsurou. “When we both couldn’t sleep.”

“I fell asleep right after I said ‘I love you’ to my boyfriend for the first time,” Tetsurou growls. “I’m such a loser.” He blinks like a confused cat before adding, “I love you, Kei-chan.”

“I’m glad you’re _my_ loser then,” he giggles. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to go to, Tet-chan.”

///

Kei can’t stop himself from smiling, which is _so_ out of character for him. He blames this on how Tetsurou said ‘I love you’ to him as they kissed at the front door, sending him off. He’s seriously considering the possibility of his boyfriend’s sappiness having rubbed off on him.

“Tsk, you seem to be in a good mood, Tsukishima,” Fushimi says in lieu of a greeting. “I’m not against it, don’t get me wrong. Can’t have you distracted like you were before you and Kuroo started dating.”

“Speak louder, won’t you? I don’t think the entire Sceptre 4 was able to hear that,” Kei hisses despite himself. His superior can be good at provoking _without_ the abilities Tetsurou has.

“Munakata-san wants us to look over some database, I’d save my stamina if I were you,” Fushimi ignores him completely, but he knows his superior, though often seen heartless, is capable of feelings. He just sucks at expressing them, as Kei’s found out not long after joining Sceptre 4.

_Looks like you and I have more in common than just our intellect and skills with computers, Fushimi_ , Kei muses to himself, sitting at his desk to get to work.

///

“Tell, me Kei-chan,” Tetsurou gets comfortable on his sofa, not waiting for Kei to join him once he got to Tetsurou’s place after work. “I know it’s none of my business but… I could tell you’ve been repressing your emotions for quite some time.”

“I only express them around you, yeah,” Kei motions at his boyfriend to move a bit so he can let Tetsurou use his lap as his pillow. He gets a strangely purr-like sound from Tetsurou. “When I got recruited by Fushimi… I moved from Miyagi. Only my older brother truly figured me out.”

“You have an older brother,” Tetsurou hums, one hand carding through Kei’s hair. “Do you guys look alike?”

“I’ve been told so,” he finds his boyfriend’s action soothing. “We _are_ related, after all.”

“Have you been talking to him?”

“Why’d you ask?” he tries to deflect, then figures Tetsurou can sense the shift in his mood if he tries harder. “I mean… I tried to text him, but he wouldn’t text me back. No explanations. I think our parents told him something that’s not true…”

“Try reaching out to him again,” Tetsurou tells him. “I’ll give you a minute if you need some alone time?”

///

Tetsurou is inside his bedroom as Kei types in his message.

_To: Nii-chan  
hey_

_From: Nii-chan  
Kei? I thought you gave up on your family when you moved to Tokyo for your government job_

_To: Nii-chan  
no, which is why it hurt when you stopped talking to me. which makes me wonder why you’d bother now…_

_From: Nii-chan  
I moved out. figured I could live with my own rules and listen to your side of the story_

Kei pauses for a second. There’s no way he can tell all this Clans stuff to his older brother.

_To: Nii-chan  
I have a government job that I got recruited for. I moved here but I never intended to cut ties with you or our parents_

_From: Nii-chan  
I believe you. pay me a visit some time, yeah?_

Kei joins his boyfriend on the bed with a heavy sigh, earning an eyebrow raise from the aforementioned boyfriend. He just nuzzles his face into those pillow-y arms until he feels like talking.

“He wants me to pay him a visit. He moved out of our parents’ house, apparently,” Kei gnaws on his on his boyfriend’s shirt sleeve between his words. “I’m glad I cleared shit up. Thanks.”

“For?” Tetsurou hums, carding his hand through Kei’s hair again.

“Giving me the courage to talk to my older brother,” he replies, pecking Tetsurou on his chin. “Can we sleep now? I’m tired after doing stuff for Fushimi all day.”

“Ah, he’s your superior though, isn’t he?” Tetsurou points out.

“Hush.”

///

Kei wakes up in his beloved boyfriend’s pillow-y arms next morning. He’s glad he has the day off, or he probably had to have woken up few hours earlier. He tries to get out of the bed so he can prepare them breakfast, but Tetsurou’s arms tighten around him. He chuckles, turning around to press a kiss to his captor’s lips.

“… leave … yet…” Tetsurou grumbles, some words hard to miss out. Judging by that, Kei decides Tetsurou woke up when he tried to get out of the bed.

“Hm?” Kei kisses Tetsurou on the cheek next.

“Don’t leave the bed just yet… s’nice and warm here…” coupled with how raspy Tetsurou sounds with his morning voice, Kei almost gives in.

“Why don’t you get out of this bed _with me_ and help me—wait, this is _your_ house. Why am I cooking?” he grouses.

“‘Cause you love me and I suck at cooking compared to you?” Tetsurou makes his eyes go all teary, looking like a sad kitten.

“You’re a good actor,” he sighs, giving in. “Alright, what do you want for breakfast?”

After a simple toast-and-scrambled-eggs combo, Kei has his head resting on his boyfriend’s lap on the sofa, with Tetsurou leaning down to kiss him occasionally. He tried to act like he didn’t like them at first, but ended up giggling every time their lips would brush.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Kei murmurs, not realising he said that out loud until he sees his boyfriend blushing. “Fuck, I mean…”

“You’re the best thing that happened to me too, Tsukishima Kei,” Tetsurou whispers. “Don’t be shy about it.”

“Mm, I do have a question though,” he muses, trying to be light about it. “You asked me about my family, it’s only fair I do about yours.”

+++

“You asked me about my family, it’s only fair I do about yours,” isn’t the question Tetsurou was expecting _this_ early in the day. His breath hitches, and for the first time, he wishes he could use his ability on himself. “Tet-chan?”

“Sorry,” he apologises. “I wasn’t expecting that…”

“You don’t have to—”

“They never really cared about me. They hired a nanny,” he lets out a dry, humourless laughter. “I can barely remember their faces. When I turned of age, I moved out of their house. I traded a four-storey mansion for a cheap apartment, and that’s probably one of the best things I did in my life. They sent me a frigging _e-mail_ saying that they can’t disown me for purposes of their appearance in the business. They said they’ll keep sending money to my bank account as long as I fulfil my duty when my father dies.” He shakes his head. “Frankly? I _was_ trained how to run a business when I turned fourteen. I was merely a piece in my parents’ game of life. A life they’ve been leading pretty damn well. I—”

Tetsurou is unable to speak more as it’s hard to when someone’s—more precisely Kei’s—lips are preventing him from doing it. He moans into their kiss as Kei shifts his weight around to straddle him. They kiss and kiss until he forgets what he was rambling about.

(He partially blames that to his half-hard dick.)

“You are not a tool they created anymore, Kuroo Tetsurou,” Kei whispers against his lips. “You’re a free person.”

“I like being a free person, but I’d appreciate it a bit more if my dick was taken care of,” Tetsurou replies semi-smugly.

“Too lazy to take the clothes off,” Kei whines.

So, Tetsurou grips onto Kei’s waist, rubbing their clad dicks against one another until they’re both spent. He thinks that was a lazy move, but he respects Kei if his boyfriend doesn’t want to go all the way yet.

///

Too soon, the Red Clan and the Blue Clan get into a skirmish. Tetsurou thinks it was a long time coming, but he doesn’t really want to fight his boyfriend. He knows the only way of not fighting his boyfriend in a Clan skirmish is joining the Blues, but that’s not happening.

“Being reckless as always, Suoh?” Munakata, the Blue King scoffs. “This is a Blue Clan’s matter.”

“The Green Clan dared to provoke _me_ , Munakata. Of course, I’m not being reckless. I’m greeting my guests personally,” Suoh grouses, looking like he’d rather much sleep. “We’re not—”

Whatever his King was going to say gets interrupted by loud war cries. Tetsurou thinks he heard someone mention how many points each King was, and their second-in-commands and third-in-commands are.

“Wow, I’m not even in the elevated points—”

“Kuroo Tetsurou: 1,500 JP!” someone says in awe, throwing him some kind of bomb. He was going to attack but a semi-opaque blue shield covers him before anything can cause him harm.

“Watch where dangerous things are, Tet-chan,” Kei whispers before sprinting off, like he wasn’t here in the first place.

“Show off,” he grouses in lieu of saying ‘thanks’, not that it’s possible to thank the person who just left not to be shown helping the enemy Clan.

The waves of Green Clansmen never seem to end, and Tetsurou is resorted into using his dagger since these bastards are using held weapons. He figured this would give him more reach than, say, his fists. He takes his dagger out of its hiding place, and briefly, he thinks he heard Megane-kun One click his tongue. He does spot him pretty close by, fighting off a Green Clansman, so he knows he didn’t hear things.

(He also hopes he won’t get recruited by someone from the Blues just because he can wield a dagger. He took kendo lessons as a child, that is literally it.)

Tetsurou thinks another wave is cleared when he hears a loud laughter. It sounds oddly familiar, and he soon finds out why.

“Ah, the beauty of destruction,” Mishakuji muses. “It’s too bad that it’s on my side, isn’t it?”

“Shut it, Yukari,” a kid who can’t be older than thirteen is by Mishakuji’s side which is at the ‘balcony’ of the top floor. “I was promised _fun_.”

“Well, go have fun, Sukuna-chan. Don’t hold back,” Mishakuji hums, making a shooing motion at this Sukuna.

The kid jumps from the balcony to the ground level. Being the idiot he is, Tetsurou charges at the kid, not thinking about the consequences. The kid moves fast, blocking his blade with his scythe. As much as he hates admitting it, he soon finds out he’s no match for the kid.

“I hate brats like you,” Tetsurou pants, making his Red Aura explode around this Sukuna kid. That seems to take the kid by surprise. “What, never seen that before?”

“I hate adults like you,” for a kid, Sukuna sure sounds full of venom. “So cocky and condescending.”

“Gentlemen,” he wants to curse Kei’s protective side. “I believe this calls for a temporary Blue-Red alliance. I guess I’ll help you, Kuroo.”

_You’re a better actor than I am, Kei_ , Tetsurou notes inside his head. He might have been staring at his boyfriend’s ass a _little._

“Geez, I’d much rather die than be helped by a Blue,” Tetsurou charges at Sukuna, dagger first. He manages to take the kid by surprise, his blade grazing the kid’s thigh. He was aiming for Sukuna’s ankle, but he guesses his kendo skills are a bit rusty.

“Not so bad with swords, now are you?” Kei muses, and he can’t help but utter the next words.

“Annoy me even more, and I might impale you with my blade,” he sneers, than realises how sexual his words were.

“Ew,” Sukuna makes a face. “Gross. I’m gonna pretend like I didn’t hear that.”

“You’re too young to understand such lewd sayings, kid,” he chastises Sukuna, while stealing a glance at Kei. His pale-skinned beauty’s face is mottled adorably in red.

Tetsurou takes a moment to look at the battleground. It seems the Red Clansmen and the Blue Clansmen unanimously decided to team up to drive the Greens away. He sees Mishakuji fighting Yata and Megune-kun One. He curses harshly when Sukuna charges at him with his stupidly long-range scythe, but Kei saves him, parrying it away with his sword.

“God, I can kiss you right now!” Tetsurou whispers.

“Save it for tonight, handsome,” Kei whispers back.

Just when Tetsurou was about retort, Mishakuji suddenly declares, “well, that was fun. Sukuna-chan, Nagare-chan is asking us to retreat and surely you wouldn’t disobey our King?”

Before long, all the Green Clansmen disappear with the usage of smoke bombs.

“Well, well,” Munakata sighs. “We have things to discuss, Suoh Mikoto.”

“If you believe so, Munakata Reisi.”

///

Tetsurou knows better than to be paranoid someone noticed something ‘unusual’ about his behaviour at the fight earlier, only concerning his behaviour around Kei, of course. In the heat of the battle, and since the Greens outnumbered them, it was only fair Reds and Blues paired up. He takes a sharp breath in when Megune-kun One approaches him.

“Kuroo Tetsurou. Former Strain who can manipulate people’s emotions and moods,” Megune-kun One muses. “Currently dating Tsukishima, right? It was easy to tell.” He whispers the last two sentences.

“You’re the one with mega-brain, I guess I can’t get away from your radar,” Tetsurou whispers back. “What’s it to you? You used to date Yata, everyone knows that.”

“Present tense,” Megune-kun One hisses.

“Stop picking on him, goddammit,” comes an angel’s voice.

“Kei,” he’s glad no one else is near them.

“Fushimi-san, you may be my superior, but I will not tolerate it if you bully my boyfriend,” Kei hisses.

“Relax,” Megane-kun One— _Fushimi­—_ laughs. “I was only telling him about me and Yata.”

“I’m gonna go take a breather,” he declares, walking away from the group of Red Clansmen and Blue Clansmen.

He soon finds out it was a mistake.

Someone grabs Tetsurou as soon as he’s away from the Sceptre 4 building and knocks him out.

“… Tsukki…” is the last thing he says before he goes under.

///

When Tetsurou comes to, he’s surprised there isn’t any part of his body missing. Or the fact that he woke up in the first place.

“Tsukki is probably worried about me,” Tetsurou listens to his gut feeling and uses the first nickname he ever used for his boyfriend instead of using his given name. “Wow, you guys are lousy. I’m not even handcuffed.”

“That’s because we don’t need to.”

Tetsurou takes a defensive crouch, hand automatically reaching for his dagger only to find out it’s not in its hiding place anymore. He sighs and summons his Red Aura instead.

“Mishakuji, my boyfriend will be mad if he finds out you kidnapped me,” Tetsurou pouts. “But seriously, why am I here?”

“This is the JUNGLE hideout. I don’t understand why, but Nagare-chan thinks you’re valuable enough for us to cheat your way here,” Mishakuji sighs. “Usually, we only let people come here when they have enough points, but Iwa-san is willing to cheat the system and let you jump to J-rank.”

“It’s not a secret I used to be a Strain, maybe he wants intel?” Tetsurou plays dumb. He wonders if these guys know some Strains get to keep their original powers upon joining a Clan. “You told me about the cheating the system bit before. Why are you willing to do that much for a mere former Strain?”

“Stop talking about me, Yukari. You’re going to make me blush.”

The man entering this room looks to be in his early forties. He’s wearing what Tetsurou would describe to be a priest’s garments. He has a kind smile on his face, but he feels like that’s fake.

“You never blush, you don’t have to lie just to sound like a nice person, Iwa-san,” Mishakuji rolls his eyes.

“My apologies,” this Iwa-san ignores Mishakuji. “I’m Iwafune Tenkei or you can just call me Iwa-san.”

“How about ‘the son of a bitch who just kidnapped me’?” he growls, his Red Aura expanding until it gives him red glowing cat’s paws.

_Huh,_ he muses silently. _For having been called a stray cat for a long damn time, this didn’t manifest fast enough._

“A cat,” Iwafune muses. “He’s a freaking cat.”

“I heard his Clanmates calling him a stray cat but didn’t know it was so _literal_ ,” Mishakuji shoots back. “That does make him more valuable.”

“I’m right here,” Tetsurou declares. “And I’m going to make you regret not handcuffing me.”

Tetsurou is bluffing, of course. He couldn’t defeat Mishakuji one-on-one, and there’s Iwafune to deal with on top of that. Hell, he doesn’t even know what Iwafune’s ability is. He also doesn’t know how useful having a fiery cat’s paws is.

Just as Mishakuji strikes with his sword, Tetsurou raises his fist and, enhanced by the Red Aura, the metal clangs against his paw. He takes full advantage of Mishakuji’s surprise and tries to make a run for it. He’s quite speedy with the usage of his Red Aura, and before long, he finds the exit of this hideout when he sees the fog starting to spread out.

“What the—”

“Kuroo-kun,” Iwafune chuckles. “Allow me to properly introduce myself if we are to be Clanmates. I am the Sixth King, the Grey King.”

+++

Kei got apprehended for trying to access some _off-limit_ database. He tries to use his Blue Aura to freeze the cuffs off, but it doesn’t work.

“Tsk,” Fushimi comes to check up on him. “Are you trying to save your boyfriend?”

“He went missing, of course I’m trying to find him,” Kei growls at the same-age Clanmate. “Since when was there any off-limit database? I work with _you_. I shouldn’t be barred.”

“I put the lock in case someone as intelligent as you would do something as stupid as what you’re planning. A one-man raid at the JUNGLE hideout?” Fushimi clicks his tongue again. “Remember I recruited you because you’re intelligent, Tsukishima. Don’t be irrational.”

“What, are you going to convince someone to go into this theoretical raid with me?” he growls at Fushimi.

“My Misaki knows about your situation. He also has been worried that Kuroo went missing. Coupled with that, I think we can lead a _three-man_ raid.”

///

Kei wonders if anyone from either the Blue Clan or Red Clan will notice the three of them with their weapons—Yata, Fushimi, and himself. As soon as Fushimi unlocked the database, he hacked the security system of the hideout (that Sceptre 4 already knew the location of, apparently) and overrode it so he can unlock it with his PDA.

“So…” Yata starts, breaking the ice. “Does Saru always click his tongue at you, Megane-kun Two? Sorry,” he apologises when Kei scowls at him. “Kuroo always calls you that, and some people—including myself—picked up on it.”

“More than I can count per day,” Kei decides to humour the short Red Clansman. “He’s like a tongue-clicking machine of sorts.”

“I just get irritated easily by a lot of people,” Fushimi clicks his tongue. “Now, from what we’ve gathered, the JUNGLE hideout is most likely underground, safe from radars. I just bugged one of the J-rank members and it led me…”

“Here?”

It’s in the middle of a street, and other than a large circle on the ground, there’s nothing odd about this place. Kei taps on the edge of the circle with the sole of his feet and lets out a disgruntled sound when he hears a hollow sound resonating back.

“This is where the bastards have been hiding then,” Kei remembers how a kid—Sukuna, was it?—was able to almost best him at duelling. “Alright, do your job, programming master.”

Fushimi rolls his eyes before tapping the end of his PDA at a seemingly random place when the circle suddenly starts to rise. Kei takes a step back just as Fushimi and Yata do as well.

“A hidden elevator, huh?” Kei hums. “How long did it take for you to hack this system?”

“As long as I kept you in the cell for trying to lead an unauthorised raid by yourself,” Fushimi connects his PDA to the elevator so they can go all the way to the bottommost floor, which he figures is where the J-rank members are at.

“I can see why you two are friends,” Yata quips in. “You two are so similar.”

“We are not friends,” Fushimi is quick to deny it.

“And I’m the Prime Minister of Japan,” Yata scoffs. “You wouldn’t risk being found out rescuing a Red Clansman _just_ for me. You want to do it for your friend as well.”

“You’re an idiot, but you’re _my_ idiot,” Fushimi sighs.

Once the elevator reaches their designated floor, they start walking. Kei is surprised that there isn’t anyone trying to stop them. Of course, his wishful thinking is evaporated when he sees the fog forming.

“Fog…” Fushimi curses. “It can’t be!”

“Came to collect your cat, Tsukishima Kei?”

Kei rushes towards the source of the voice with Cynthia unsheathed. He soon realises that was his mistake when he hears warning gunshots.

“Only _I_ can see clearly in this fog, Tsukishima-kun,” the man, who sounds like he’s in his forties, explains. “You are a fool to come here on a whim.”

“How do you know my name?” Kei grouses.

“I have heard of Fushimi Saruhiko recruiting a young intellectual like himself to the Blue Clan,” the older male laughs. “Turns out, he’s still a slave to his feelings.”

“Where is Tetsurou?” he yells. “What have you done to him?”

“He tried to run away, so we’ve locked up the bad kitten,” the older male hums. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Iwa-san.”

“No one but _me_ gets to call Kuroo a cat,” Yata sneers; Kei disagrees. “Why are you calling him that anyways? What do you know about him?”

“That he can manifest cat’s paws encased in Red Aura,” Iwa-san replies.

“So he can finally do that, huh,” Yata notes to himself, as if he forgot they’re in a middle of a battle. “Who are you?”

“I just told you—”

“No, he means how can you manipulate this fog?” Fushimi interjects. “You can’t be…”

“Well, Yukari wishes to see Tsukishima-kun, so I shall let you three go.”

With that said, the fog dissipates, and the three of them all alone.

///

“Who was that guy?” Yata growls out as soon as they start walking with their visibility restored.

“I have my guess, but only from reading the archives from Sceptre 4…” Fushimi replies to his boyfriend, a hint of fondness apparent in his tone.

“The Grey King,” Kei intercepts. “Though wasn’t he confirmed dead at the Kagutsu Crater incident…”

“The fog manipulation ability is exclusive to the Grey King,” Fushimi shakes his head. “He must have survived and got a new name… in the database, he’s known as Otori Seigo, the Grey King. ‘Confirmed’ dead, while he obviously isn’t.” 

“So, the name he gave us, Iwa-san, is just a fake one so he could parade as a normal citizen?” Yata looks confused.

“Or so he can help the Green King, Hisui Nagare.”

///

They walk for what feels like forever until they manage to navigate through and find where Mishajuki and Gojo Sukuna (he may have looked up the kid’s surname) are waiting for him. Thankfully, the Green King, the Fifth King, seems nowhere in sight. From what he archived, Hisui can only move with unlimited power for a short amount of time since he was a victim of Kagutsu Crater. Something about his Green Aura, therefore his Sanctum, keeping him alive since he doesn’t have a heartbeat.

“You were right, Yukari! The cat’s boyfriend _did_ show up,” Gojo sneers, manifesting his scythe’s blade. “We’re going to have some fun.”

“As you wish,” Kei shoots back, not bothered by how all the J-rank members (and a bothersome Grey King) seem to know he’s dating Tetsurou. He blames Mishakuji for his first attempt at kidnapping his boyfriend, therefore finding out about his relationship.

(He blabbed himself, but he was pissed at Mishakuji for trying to take _his_ Tetsurou away.)

“Three-on-two,” Fushimi clicks his tongue. “This is going to be a pain since they’re the top two fighters of JUNGLE.”

“Knew this was a suicide mission but you still decided to follow my idiot side,” Kei scoffs. “Thank you, Fushimi-san.”

“Done with your _sentimental bullshit_?” Gojo interrupts them. “Good, I want to have my fun now.”

The kid charges at him recklessly, but it’s backed by brutal force. Kei leaps backwards to avoid any debris falling on him. The haze clears up to show Gojo charging at him again, and this time, he stops the kid’s scythe with his own blade. He decides the kid’s recklessness is his greatest weapon not long into the battle. He takes a sideway glance and sighs upon seeing Fushimi and Yata taking on Mishakuji.

_No help for me then_ , Kei decides, putting his head back into the game. He keeps blocking Gojo’s reckless strikes, looking for a perfect timing to strike back. He sees a small opening and slashes his sword in that direction, catching the kid by surprise.

“You’re more fun to play with than your boyfriend, Megane!” Gojo declares. “All he had were cat’s paws. Well, we _did_ confiscate his dagger.”

“Shut up,” Kei strikes harder this time; Gojo staggers. He rushes forward with a battle cry, using his height to full advantage as he crowds the kid against a wall. “Tell me where you have my boyfriend and maybe I’ll let you go by unscathed.”

“Why would I do such a thing?” Gojo laughs eerily. “I get you, I earn easy points.”

Kei presses the blade a bit closer to Gojo’s throat. “Tell. Me.”

“You’re an idiot,” Gojo hums. “Search for him all you like. You won’t find him.”

Kei uses the hilt of Cynthia to knock the kid out cold.

“Go!” Yata yells at him mid-strike, his pole connecting with Mishakuji’s blade. “We got it here!”

Without looking back, Kei plunges into the foggy darkness.

///

Kei doesn’t know what the deal is with Iwafune. Sure, according to the database he stumbled across when he was a fledgling at Sceptre 4, Iwafune lost his Clansmen due to the Kagutsu Crater incident. He would feel sorry for the man had the Grey King not joined forces with Hisui Nagare, the Green King.

“I’m coming for you, Tet-chan,” Kei whispers into the thin air as he continues to search this hide out.

So far, he hasn’t run into Iwafune yet, but he thinks that’s a matter of time. He knows better than to fight a King, but he doesn’t think he really has a chance. Besides, all he’s seen Iwafune did was manipulate fog and use his gun. In close combat, he thinks he can get the upper hand as a swordsman.

_But then again, only a King can go against another King as an equal,_ Kei reminds himself before he gets too cocky. _All I can do is hold him off until we find an escape route with Tetsurou. It doesn’t look like they want us to leave though, since they want Tetsurou’s ability so bad._

“Hello?”

Kei whips his head towards the familiar voice he thinks he’s heard. He runs in that direction until he finds a small cell area. Inside is his boyfriend, Kuroo Tetsurou.

“Kei! You’re an idiot if you came alone!” Tetsurou hisses.

“No, Fushimi and Yata helped me infiltrate,” Kei rolls his eyes. “Are you hurt?”

“Thankfully, no. But did you know I can do this?” Tetsurou forms a cat’s paw with his aura on his left hand. “This metal bar won’t melt down though. I think it _has_ to be switch activated.”

Kei looks around before finding the said switch. The bars disappear, but at the same time, the alarm starts ringing.

“I’m guessing there’s an additional step I didn’t do,” Kei curses, immediately locating a small ID box for scanning one’s PDA. “They know now.”

Kei forgets they’re in the enemy’s hideout and moans when Tetsurou grabs him by his waist and kisses him fiercely. He kisses back until he can’t think straight, then pulls away to catch his breath.

“We’re getting out of here alive,” Tetsurou promises. “And in one piece, hopefully.”

///

Surprisingly, no one comes to confront them when they rejoin Yata and Fushimi. Mishakuji doesn’t seem to be breaking any sweat while his friends look exhausted. Before he can say anything, an explosion of Red Aura breaks around Mishakuji, catching him off-guard.

“Let’s go!” Tetsurou yells as Yata and Fushimi try to run for it.

“Like hell I will let you!” Mishakuji screeches, losing his composure unlike the previous times Kei’s seen him.

“Let them go, Yukari,” Iwafune’s voice resonates out of nowhere. “We can always recapture the cat.”

“As if you’d catch me off-guard again!” Tetsurou hisses, one hand forming paw again.

“Mark my words, Kuroo Tetsurou.”

///

Both Fushimi and Kei get scolded by Munakata the next day they have work. Of course, the all-knowing Blue King found out they went on some sort of mission to help Yata rescue his Clanmate, or more or less known as, the one who is Kei’s boyfriend.

“Blue Clansmen risking their lives to save a Red Clansman? Despite our temporary alliance, I cannot condone that,” Munakata rages on. “But,” he suddenly smiles, creeping Kei out a little bit. “I’ll let this slide by since Tsukishima-kun did it out of love. I should punish you, Tsukishima-kun, but I’m not the one to judge when it comes to love.”

“So it’s true,” the words slip out of Kei’s lips, uncontrolled.

“Oya?” Munakata raises his eyebrows.

“Nothing, sir,” he bows. “May I be excused now?”

“You’re both dismissed.”

“You’re braver than I thought,” Fushimi snickers once they’re out of Munakata’s office. “Uttering those words within his earshot, that’s something my Misaki’d die to hear in person.”

“Does he have something against our King?” Kei asks cautiously.

“I believe he used to think Munakata-san stole me from him,” Fushimi chuckles. “He can be cute that way.”

“I bet,” he scoffs. “I’m not really interested in your love life.”

“What are friends for?”

“Are you calling me your friend?” he teases his friend.

Fushimi looks flustered. “Maybe.”

“Then friends we are, Fushimi,” he hums, sitting down at his desk once they reach their station.

///

Kei was dawdling around when he gets summoned by Munakata for a skirmish against the Green Clan. He was bored, so he gladly grabs Cynthia and gets out of the office with Fushimi.

“If you see Gojo or Mishakuji,” Fushimi warns him. “Don’t go chasing after them. You don’t know what they’re up to, unlike the simple-minded grunts from the Green Clan.”

“I have yet to pay them back for kidnapping a certain kitten of mine,” Kei growls at his superior.

“And I’m ordering you not to go after them,” Fushimi finalises. “Go take care of the grunts, now would you?”

The Red Clan arrives not long after, since they’re in a temporary alliance until this Green Clan problem has been solved. Naturally, he teams up with Tetsurou to knock some Green Clansmen down. It feels like they’ve been fighting side by side for a long time, even when they haven’t due to their affiliation with Clans, or maybe he just likes being in Tetsurou’s presence, no matter what the cause is.

“Nice one, Tsukki~” the nickname that’s grown onto Kei feels sweet in his ear, and it takes all of him to not bowl his boyfriend over and kiss him senseless. “You sure are good with your hands.”

“Shush,” Kei’s quick to respond, ignoring the heat spreading around his cheek areas. “We’re in a middle of a battle, Kuroo.”

“I think half our respective Clans know we’re together, drop the ‘Kuroo’ bullshit,” Tetsurou purrs, summoning his glowing Red Aura-encased cat’s paw to knock down a few more Greens. “Have I ever told you that you look hot when you’re pissed off?”

“Possibly,” Kei does the same with his sword. “It’s not working this time though. Sadly, we’re surrounded by the idiot Greens.”

“Does that mean we can have our way once we’re home?”

_Home_.

The word hits Kei off-guard, Tetsurou has to knock off a Green. He hasn’t realised it, but somewhere along the lines of falling for this ginormous kitten and going over to his apartment, _his_ place became _their_ place.

“Tsukki?” Tetsurou whisper-yells. “You okay there?”

“I’m fine,” Kei giggles despite the fact that there are more waves of Green Clansmen. “More than fine, actually.”

Thirty or so minutes later, the waves of Green Clansmen stop, and both the Blue and the Red Clan Kings recall their Clansmen.

“See you later, Kei-chan,” Tetsurou whispers, making his cat’s paws disappear.

///

Kei figures either Munakata gave up on him ever sleeping in the dorm again, or he doesn’t care where his Clansmen are when they’re supposed to sleep in the dorm. Either way, Kei is headed to the apartment complex his boyfriend resides at.

“Kei,” Tetsurou sounds excited to have him here. “Thought you weren’t coming tonight.”

“Why wouldn’t I? There was another victory against the Greens, and I’m in a mood to celebrate.”

They move to _their_ bedroom, and Kei starts to strip slowly. He wonders if his boyfriend will like the tiny surprise.

“Fuck, Kei…” Tetsurou halts his movements and traces his fingertips across Kei’s lace-clad ass. “Fuck, this is cheating.”

“I said I’m in the mood to celebrate,” Kei can feel the heat spreading throughout his body from how his boyfriend is looking at him. “Stopped by at my dorm to get changed into those.”

“I’m glad you did. Your ass looks so… wow,” Tetsurou seems to have forgotten how to speak in full sentences from seeing Kei wearing red lace panties. “Can I take it off?”

“No,” he pushes his boyfriend back against their bed, grinding his lace-clad ass against his fully-clothed boyfriend’s dick. “ _I’m_ in control tonight.”

“Aren’t you always?”

Kei stops grinding, earning a soft groan from Tetsurou. He dips his head down to whisper, “can I blow you, Tet-chan?” in Tetsurou’s ear, one hand reaching between them to cup the other’s growing bulge.

“Since when am I opposed to that suggestion?” Tetsurou curses when Kei moves his had away from his crotch. “Please?”

“I can make you beg so easily, Tet-chan,” he purrs his words out, removing Tetsurou’s clothes without any difficulties.

Kei decides he likes the sight of Tetsurou like this—naked and dripping pre-cum from the slit all the way down to the thick base. He gives the base a tentative lick, soon encouraged by that sinful, lust-filled grunt his boyfriend lets out. He swirls his tongue-tip around the leaking slit before he wraps his lips around it, then moves his head until that slit is prodding at the back of his throat. He loves this feeling, whether he’d admit it aloud or not, but that doesn’t seem to be necessary when his boyfriend grabs a handful of his hair, making him moan. He can tell Tetsurou wants to fuck his face, but he’s restraining himself since he said _Kei_ is in charge. He starts to bob his head, making sure to slurp around the tip every time he’s in the position, and swallows when it hits the back of his throat. The grip on his hair tightens, signalling a release, so naturally, he pops off.

“You’re the Devil in disguise, Tsukishima Kei,” Tetsurou whines.

“I want you to come inside me,” Kei wants to pat himself on the back for saying it without stuttering. “Please, Tet-chan?”

“I can’t say ‘no’ when you abuse your power over me, Kei,” Tetsurou rasps out, eyes burning with passion and unrelenting love.

Kei is on his hands and knees as Tetsurou spreads his asscheeks, his hot breaths fanning against his hole, causing him to shiver. He moans the first time Tetsurou’s tongue glides from his heavy sac to his hole, then shamelessly continues doing so as his boyfriend repeats his action. He hears a cap opening and surely enough, Tetsurou’s forefinger and middle finger joins his tongue, opening him up. He gets frustrated how Tetsurou is missing his prostate on purpose. He rocks his hips back, desperate to hit that spot, but Tetsurou pushes him down with his free hand, knocking him off his hands.

“Don’t be greedy, Kei-chan,” Tetsurou pulls his fingers out and Kei takes that as an incentive to face his boyfriend. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re the love of my life, the _only_ one I ever learned to love like this,” Kei kisses his boyfriend’s insecurities away. “Make me feel like no one ever did before, Tetsurou. Mark me as yours.”

Kei wraps his legs around his boyfriend’s waist as he positions himself between his legs after putting the condom on. His boyfriend’s condom-clad cock feels oddly cold against his hole, but he shakes off the feeling, getting used to the coldness the lube is providing. His breath hitches when Tetsurou starts pushing in, unconsciously clenching around the intrusion. A few kisses on his cheeks later, he relaxes so Tetsurou can push in _fully_. It’s an uncomfortable feeling, he’ll admit that, but when Tetsurou shifts his hips a little and he moans from pleasure. He doesn’t know how Tetsurou found his spot on the first try, but he’s grateful nonetheless. The discomfort soon melts into pleasure as Tetsurou rocks into his prostate angle, squeezing out embarrassing sounds from him. His boyfriend only encourages him, telling him how cute he sounds with his cock up his ass.

“Tetsurou, I’m—” Kei cries out as he feels close to his climax, wrapping his legs tighter around his boyfriend’s waist.

“Me too, Kei, me too. Let’s come together,” Tetsurou coos.

After a few more forceful thrusts into his prostate, Kei comes with a shout of Tetsurou’s name, and his boyfriend follows suit, his entire body shaking from the force of it.

“I love you, Tsukishima Kei,” Tetsurou promises after tying the used condom and throwing into the trash can.

“I love you too, Kuroo Tetsurou.”

///

“So, lemme get this straight… you want me to visit your older brother with you? Why?”

Kei rolls his eyes at his boyfriend lovingly. He got a text from his older brother it’s okay for him to visit him over the weekend a few days back. It’s Saturday morning right now.

“Well, he wanted me over for the weekend, and I told him I’m brining a special someone with me,” Kei replies. “If anyone’s going to be understanding, it’s my brother.”

“You did tell me he’s the one who truly figured you out… have you had a crush on someone before?” Tetsurou chirps.

“No, but he’s the closest person I have, apart from you, of course,” he adds before his boyfriend can give him his sad kitten look.

It takes them less than an hour for them to arrive at Sendai, his hometown. They brought a small suitcase with their overnight stuff, _(“why aren’t we bringing any lube or condoms?” “We aren’t having sex at my brother’s place!”_ ) and their PDAs just in case their Kings need them.

“Hi!” Kei’s older brother greets them at the station. “Hello, you’re Kuroo Tetsurou, I’d assume?” he extends an arm to Tetsurou. “I’m Tsukishima Akiteru, this little shit’s older brother.”

“You guys definitely look alike,” Tetsurou deadpans. “I mean, nice to meet you!”

“He’s an idiot, excuse his behaviours,” Kei teases his boyfriend. “He’s my—”

“Boyfriend, I’d assume?” his older brother chuckles. “Don’t look so surprised! I can’t imagine why you’d bring someone with you on your first visit to your older brother’s new place… unless they’re your significant other.”

“We met at work,” he comes up with the cover story on the spot. _It’s not exactly a lie, now is it?_ “He was a client of sorts.”

“Are you allowed to date your client?” the teasing edge in his older brother’s tone makes him relax by loads.

“ _This_ is why I was so hesitant on seeing you again, nii-chan,” Kei realises his mistake as soon as he utters the word ‘nii-chan’. He only did that when he was alone with his older brother!

“I can definitely tell Kei is relaxed around you, Kuroo. He rarely calls me ‘nii-chan’ outside,” his brother doesn’t miss that at all and teases him mercilessly.

“Nii _-san_ , please,” he won’t be surprised if he’s redder than a beet. “You’re supposed to be on _my_ side!”

“I’m on my own side Kei,” his brother laughs. “Well, I called a cab, so let’s be on our way…”

Kei isn’t surprised by how sparkling clean his brother’s apartment is when they arrive there. After all, he grew up being nagged by his older brother to tidy up his room. He figures his brother cleaned his apartment until the moment he left the place for his guests.

“I only have one spare room, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem, Kei,” his brother smirks at him. “Just don’t be too loud, okay? Spare me a little.”

“Nii-san!” Kei practically screams in annoyance. “We won’t be doing… that kind of… stuff…”

“I like you already,” Tetsurou, the betrayer, declares. “Kei was not happy the first time he saw me though. I kept calling him ‘megane-kun’.”

“He hated that as a child, though I thought people stopped calling him that once he entered high school,” Kei wonders how much in trouble he’d be in if he were to freeze his older brother.

Kei puts his travelling bag in the corner of the guest room, and Tetsurou does the same. They’re currently waiting for his brother to bring some spare blankets and sheets. The room is absolutely empty, like his brother doesn’t use it at all.

“How long do you think it’s going to take for your brother to gather us our stuff?” Tetsurou doesn’t bother with subtlety, voice lowered by an octave, laced with seduction.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything important!” the guest room door kicks open, announcing Kei’s brother’s arrival. “Tetsurou-kun, please retain at least a metre of distance from my baby brother whenever I’m with you two.”

“You’re kidding me,” Tetsurou pouts like a child. “We’re all adults here.”

“With working eyesight and hearing! I don’t fancy wearing my headphones to bed so I have to block out your sex noises, and this is my baby brother I’m talking about,” the way he speaks lets Kei know that his brother is joking.

“I take it back—I do _not_ like your brother,” Tetsurou huffs.

“Wait, do you think _I’m_ the loud one between the two of us?” it takes a bit for Kei to realise what his brother meant.

“Oh, would you look at the time! It’s time for dinner!”

///

They go to a popular soba restaurant and ended up having a little bit to drink. Kei, even though he attended all the dinners Munakata hosted after work (it’s a monthly tradition he hates for having to socialise), still has a low tolerance level, so he’s leant heavily against his boyfriend. Tetsurou offered to carry him all the way to his brother’s place but he refused out of his pride.

“Take care of him, Tetsurou-kun. Maybe start with a bath,” Kei’s brother suggests as he gets out of the bathroom. His head is a little dizzy, and a bath with his boyfriend sounds so good to him.

“Hey!” he wasn’t, however, expecting Tetsurou to princess-carry him to the bathroom and seat him on the edge of the tub. Giggling in his tipsy stupor, he waits for the tub to fill up as Tetsurou undresses him. It feels different somehow now that alcohol was involved, how more sensitive his skin is to his boyfriend’s touches compared to previous times they were having intimate moments like this. The thought only causes him to giggle some more, earning raised eyebrows from Tetsurou.

“Are you really okay with me bathing you?” Tetsurou asks, stripping his own clothes off.

“You’ve practically bathed me with your tongue before and you’re asking me if it’s okay to rub my back?” Kei can’t help but giggle even more. “Put your hands on me, _Tet-chan_.”

“Your brother is only a wall away from us,” Tetsurou reminds him.

“And I don’t care. I’m not a baby anymore, and I can do whatever I want,” he pouts. “I know you’re getting hard for me. Seeing me naked is hard to control yourself in front of, isn’t it?”

“I don’t want your brother to hate me,” Tetsurou pushes him into the tub, making him flounder a little. “Now, let’s bathe all proper, Tsukki~”

Kei can’t help but squeak when Tetsurou’s hand trail too far down south, close to his hole. He knows his boyfriend is doing this on purpose, just letting him know that he’s in control tonight. In his tipsy haze, he finds that hot, making him yearn for his boyfriend’s body even more.

After drying themselves up, they get dressed in their sleepwear. Kei finds it extremely distracting and unfair that Tetsurou is wearing black tank top that is clinging to his toned body.

“Goodnight, kids! Remember, keep it down if you guys decide to resolve that tension of yours from the bath!” Kei’s brother cackles as he shuts his bedroom door.

“So… permission granted?” Tetsurou asks slyly, reaching for their makeshift bed for the night.

“I don’t think he cares enough to start with,” Kei feigns a sigh, snuggling into his boyfriend’s warmth once they lie down. “He’s probably happy that I finally found someone.”

“Something tells me something happened to you in high school or middle school~” Tetsurou doesn’t miss his chance to bite onto the bait.

“Some girl told me she had a crush on me in my last year of high school, and I told her ‘I’d much study harder to get into a good university than get my dick sucked.’”

“You didn’t,” Tetsurou’s shoulders shake from laughter that is threatening to spill.

“It’s not funny!” he tries to defend himself. “I was eighteen when I said it! I thought good grades were everything!”

“And now you work for the government. I think your ‘not getting my dick sucked’ strategy worked out fine,” Tetsurou continues to tease him.

“You aren’t getting any if you keep bullying me, Tet-chan,” he points out calmly. “Also, there’s no lube _and_ I’m sleepy.”

“Didn’t know you get sleepy after having some alcohol,” Tetsurou sighs. “And we have lube, don’t you worry about that.”

“I’m sleepy,” he argues. “And when did you put lube in our travelling bag? I told you no sex at nii-chan’s place!”

“I was hoping I’d get lucky,” Tetsurou purrs.

“Goodnight, Tetsurou,” Kei kisses his boyfriend goodnight and closes his eyes.

///

Kei wakes up to two things.

First thing he notices is a raging headache, and he blames that on drinking last night with his brother and his boyfriend.

The other thing he notices is that he’s stark naked, and he can feel someone lapping at his hole, just barely breaching the rim.

“Tetsurou?” Kei’s voice comes out as a whispered moan.

“Morning, Tsukki,” Tetsurou’s hot breaths fan against his hole, making shivers go down his spine. “Slept well?”

“I think this needs an explana—” he keens when his boyfriend’s tongue _finally_ delves inside of him.

Tetsurou doesn’t seem to be in the mood for playing around as he flicks his tongue inside his hole without holding back, one hand cupping his hardened dick. He hasn’t a clue how long his boyfriend has been rimming him, but that thought flees from him as he comes hard all over Tetsurou’s hand, biting into his pillow to stifle his scream.

“I have a headache, Tet-chan, and you think tongue-fucking me will help?” Kei huffs in lieu of a greeting.

“Well, I did read somewhere that orgasms cure hangovers…” Tetsurou looks the sliest Kei has ever seen him. “Do you want me to repeat the procedure for a better result?”

“If nii-chan—I mean nii- _san_ —kicks us out, it’s all on you,” he sighs. “Did you bring any condoms?”

“I’m a very prepared person,” Tetsurou scoffs. 

A few licks around his hole and Kei is fully hard again, much to his dismay. He blames it on oversensitivity. The crinkling sound of the condom package opening gets him hyper-alert, like he can’t believe they’re having sex at his brother’s place.

“Ready?” the coldness of the lube jolts Kei back to reality.

“If you delay any longer, I’m gonna—”

Kei chokes on his from how forcibly Tetsurou drives into his prostate. He actually comes from that alone, letting out a loud mewl, so loud he’s sure he woke his brother up if he wasn’t up already.

“Mind _not_ letting nii-san know what we’re doing?” Kei’s breath hitches when his boyfriend thrusts into his prostate, the stimulation rushing his blood back to his dick.

“Jesus, Kei, you can’t goad me like that and _not_ expect me to lose control,” for now, Tetsurou is keeping a slow, steady pace, but Kei feels like that’s just an illusion.

Not even a full minute later, Tetsurou starts to speed up, ramming into Kei’s oversensitive, abused prostate. Despite the fact that they could well get caught by his brother, Kei’s excitement only grows, adding to the pleasure.

“God, Tsukki, I love you and you feel so—”

Kei clenches around his boyfriend as he comes again, milking out Tetsurou’s release as well.

“I’m gonna murder you if my brother heard us,” Kei promises.

“I thought you loved me too much to do that?” Tetsurou chuckles.

///

“Good morning, Kei, Tetsurou-kun,” Kei’s brother is sipping his morning coffee when they greet each other. “Sure sounded like a good morning for you two.”

“Nii-chan…” Kei adjusts his glasses in embarrassment. “We didn’t do… anything.”

“I had my headphones on for an hour or so,” he knows for sure he’s being teased. “I’ll make pancakes for all of us now that we’re all… available for breakfast!”

Kei would have been pissed off if not for his brother had sliced strawberries for their pancakes. It’s a no-brainer for anyone who knows him he has a _huge_ thing for strawberries, so.

“It definitely sounded like—”

“Nii-san, you don’t get to harass me like this anymore! I’m twenty years old!” Kei cuts off his brother before he can tease him again.

“I made you strawberry milkshake for breakfast, I think I can tease you as much as I want,” his brother muses. “Did Kei tell you about that girl from high school yet? I laughed when he finally confessed.”

“I hope Kei didn’t get bitch-slapped afterward,” Tetsurou snickers.

“I didn’t, now let me take you on a tour around Sendai…”

///

By the time Kei’s back at his brother’s place with Tetsurou, his brother is sleeping. He doesn’t find that annoying since it was well past midnight.

“Would you hate me if I ate you out?”

“I don’t want to wake nii-san up, you insatiable dolt,” Kei counters.

“Your loss.”

///

The moment Kei sets his foot on the Tokyo Station after their visit to his brother, a wave of bad vibes hits him. He can feel someone watching him and his boyfriend.

“Kei—”

“I know,” Kei doesn’t want his boyfriend to talk too much in case their observer gets any advantage. “We’re going to go to our place and act like we don’t know.”

“Do you think it’s Mishakuji?” Tetsurou asks.

“He already failed twice, I don’t think the Greens will try again…” _Or so I hope_. “We’ve been so wrapped up by the Green Clan, we didn’t really—”

“Boo.”

Kei wishes he had his sword to slice at his superior for scaring them like this.

“I wasn’t expecting a welcome committee,” Kei grouses at Fushimi.

“Munakata-san wasn’t pleased that you took three days off. I hacked your phone’s location and saw you in Miyagi yesterday. It was just matter of timing how I saw you coming in Tokyo’s direction an hour ago,” Fushimi states in that ‘I’m bored, and I can’t believe I’m playing the messenger here’ voice. “Visited your family, I suppose?”

“It’s creepy how you’re acting so friendly with me, Fushimi-san,” Kei teases his same-age Clanmate. “Why are you here? And why does it matter if I visited my family?”

“It doesn’t, and I’m here to let you know that the truce between the Blue and Red Clans is official. It was just an unspoken thing before, but our Kings had a lengthy discussion,” Fushimi utters the term ‘lengthy discussion’ like it’s the vilest thing in the world. “Also, Misaki wants to try a new thing…”

“A new thing being…?”

Two hours later, Kei finds himself in a booth at a restaurant that doesn’t have enough space for his legs. He thinks Tetsurou is having the same problem. Yata is the only one who seems excited about this _double date_.

“Ignore Saru being an asshole,” Yata sounds cheerful as he stirs his drink. “You already know he isn’t much of a socialiser.”

“Do I?” Kei can’t help but snort. “He’s the youngest if you look beyond the fact that he’s the third-in-command, but never accepts drinks at the monthly dinners, so, naturally, _I’m_ the target.”

“I’m right here, Tsukishima,” Fushimi kindly reminds him.

“I’m very aware. I’m letting your boyfriend know what a shithead you are,” he replies with a hint of defiance.

“He already knows I’m a shithead. Part of my many charms,” Fushimi snorts. “There was this one time when we were sixteen…”

“We agreed to not talk about that!” Yata’s entire face is an impressive shade of red. “Bad monkey!”

“How come we don’t have cute little nickname for you after an animal for you?” Tetsurou decides to quip in.

“Since I don’t like it, so hush it, kitty,” his words are harsh, but he sounds like a lovesick idiot as he says it.

The food was good, at least, and the arcade park Yata brought them to after the dinner was quite nice. Around 8p.m., Kei herds them to his favourite dessert shop for the strawberry moose cake to share with his boyfriend.

(Kei tries his hardest to ignore how cute Fushimi looks while arguing with Yata that they aren’t getting anything with fruits on them. They end up getting a chocolate lava cake, which is equally as annoyingly cute.)

“That was… not bad,” Fushimi is the first to comment as they go to the park Kei and Tetsurou frequent. “I expected it to go worse.”

“Ignore him, he’s a pessimist,” Yata apologises to Tetsurou.

“That’s the only thing I gathered from today’s double date,” Tetsurou hums. “He’s not a bad dude though.”

“You’re lucky my Misaki persuaded me into not bringing my knives here tonight, or you’d be a nice-looking Kuroo-kebob right now,” Fushimi grouses.

“I know you’re all bark and no bite, Fushimi, nice try,” Tetsurou scoffs. “And don’t lie, I know you hid one knife in your left boot. Talk about obvious.”

“It’s called self-defence.”

Yata sighs. Kei can definitely _not_ see his boyfriend getting along with his Clanmate if this truce-alliance goes on for the long-term. He wonders how Munakata got Suoh to agree with him in the first place. He briefly thinks about what Fushimi implied between the Blue King and the Red King.

_Did they have some form of a relationship before?_ Kei realises. _I only thought of it as a possibility but nothing else explains why or how the headstrong Red King would agree to do anything with Munakata…_

“Kei, you okay there?” Tetsurou gives him a tiny nudge. “You zoned out there for a bit.”

“I was thinking about our Clans’ alliance…” Kei replies honestly.

“Not our concern, not really,” Fushimi tells him. “It’s up to what our Kings are in the mood for.”

“So, that’s what you meant,” he grouses. “You suspect…”

“Mikoto-san isn’t really secretive about his relationship with Munakata,” Yata, the last person to have made that remark, speaks. “I mean… I trailed him once and ended up paying for the price in the least pleasant way possible.”

“And Misaki is not the best at stealth, so it’s not like Mikoto-san didn’t know he was being followed,” Fushimi shows a rare case of PDA by kissing Yata before the short Red Clan vanguard can say something.

“Something tells me I don’t want to know what happened to Yata,” Kei decides wisely.

“I don’t wanna talk about it either, so you’re in luck,” Yata blushes, looking cute, not some aggressive street thug.

///

Kei and Tetsurou departed from Fushimi and Yata to head to Tetsurou’s place. He’s practically abandoned his dorm room in favour of coming here so he can have more _privacy_. He chuckles against his boyfriend’s lips when his back is pressed against the door the moment they walk over the threshold.

“Oya, were you anticipating this when I said I’d come over tonight?” Kei whispers, wrapping a leg around Tetsurou’s waist.

“Your leg around my waist speaks louder than your words,” Tetsurou grabs onto Kei’s thigh, only to slide it all the way to his crotch. “Excited?”

“Glad you had your bedroom soundproofed, Tet-chan,” Kei replies. “Otherwise, I can’t scream your name out as loud as I can, as many times as I want.”

“So… that’s a yes?” Tetsurou fondles with the button on Kei’s plaid shirt with his hand that isn’t rubbing at his dick through his black skinny jeans.

“I’ll freeze your dick off if you prolong this any more,” he threatens sweetly.

In a flurry of movements, Kei finds himself naked, face buried in the fluffy pillows as Tetsurou licks him out. His moans soon get un-buried as his boyfriend tugs at his hair, pulling his head back.

“Wanna hear your pretty moans, Kei-chan,” Tetsurou whispers, sending shivers down his spine.

With Tetsurou’s skilful hand stroking him in time of his tongue-thrusts, Kei comes with a small moan of his boyfriend’s name. He flips around to meet with Tetsurou’s heated gaze, almost flinching from it.

“Do you need more prep?” Tetsurou’s voice sounds strained.

“Please, forget about it for now and just fuck me.”

Kei gasps from how good it feels to have his boyfriend enter him without much of a prep. His dick fills up embarrassingly quickly as Tetsurou thrusts into his prostate expertly. All he can do is moan helplessly, legs tightening around his boyfriend’s waist. For a while, all he can hear is his boyfriend panting as he thrusts into him, and his corresponding moans. It’s a music only they can compose and hear, something he really loves.

_I really do love this man_ , Kei thinks to himself.

“God, Kei, you feel so good…” Tetsurou claims his lips, disabling him from saying anything back.

Kei reaches his high just as Tetsurou does, moaning his name against his lips like a prayer.

“I love you so fucking much, Tsukishima Kei,” Tetsurou vows.

“What an odd thing to say when we just had sex,” Kei jokes, nuzzling their noses together. “I love you too, Kuroo Tetsurou.”

+++

It’s been half a year since Tetsurou started dating Kei, and about five months since HOMRA entered an alliance with Sceptre 4. They still don’t know what the Green Clan is up to, and in the last few months, the Silver Clan’s King, Adolf K. Weismann, finally made his appearance. He discussed what he fears Hisui Nagare with Mikoto-san and Munakata, which they shared with their Clansmen.

“And I just love being on the patrol with you, babe!” Tetsurou wraps his arms around his boyfriend in a tight hug. “Don’t you as well?”

“We’re here too, you know…” Fushimi’s annoyed voice diminishes his good mood. “The Gold Clan must be desperate if he’s letting two other Clans help them keep the Slate…”

“They don’t have a King right now, that must be why,” Kei muses, surprising everyone. “No one caught on to that yet? It was obvious.”

“I had my suspicions,” Fushimi shrugs. “I think only the Kings knew about that.”

“Now—”

“Hello, boys,” Mishakuji greets them like they’re old friends. “Long time no see, Kuroo-kun.”

“Shut your mouth, Mishakuji,” Kei is the first to say anything, which is rather unusual. “Are you here to distract us so our Kings can have an undisturbed ‘meeting’?”

“You’re too smart for any of us. Tsukishima,” Mishakuji hums. “If you can beat me two-on-one, maybe I’ll—”

A dark figure falls from the sky, and Tetsurou is surprised to see _this_ person in flesh.

“Ah, Kuroh-chan, came to save your friends?” Mishakuji chuckles.

“They aren’t my friends, but I have my King’s orders,” Kuroh doesn’t sound so happy to see Mishakuji. “Your opponent is _me_ , Yukari-san.”

Taking that as the cue to leave, Tetsurou signals at Kei to head inside the Tower. Being the smart bastard he is, Fushimi gets what they’re doing and leads Yata inside.

“What now?” Yata asks. “I know this Tower has multiple floors and the Dresden Slate is at the topmost one.”

“We clear anyone in the way,” Fushimi unsheathes his throwing knives.

They find bunch of U or N-Rank Green Clansmen waiting for them, as Fushimi predicted. Tetsurou himself is a mid-range fighter with his ring of exploding fire, but having Fushimi cover some distance with his knives as well is proven to be a good tactic.

“They’re weak as shit, but there’s a great number of them,” Yata complains as they reach the end of the corridor. “Not to mention the J-Rankers and U-Rankers can do that wall-walking shit.”

“Good to know that your boyfriend has great precision when he throws his knife, right, Misaki?” Fushimi throws one backwards, hitting his target, who goes down with a grunt.

“Just how many knives do you carry with you?” Tetsurou mumbles.

“You don’t wanna know,” the other three chorus together.

///

They make it to the top floor without much problem when a huge explosion goes off. They run to the room where the Slate is, finding Hisui sprawled on the ground, seemingly lifeless.

“Didn’t Fushimi tell you?” Hisui laughs humourlessly. “By the looks on your faces, Suoh Mikoto and Munakata Reisi, he did not.”

“What did my Clansman forget to tell me?” Munakata presses the blade of his sabre more into Hisui’s skin.

“Who my adoptive father is.”

A thick fog appears, akin to the one Tetsurou saw Iwafune use.

“Munakata—”

Too late, the fog gets even thicker until it suddenly disappears to reveal no one but them.

“The Dresden Slate,” Mikoto-san hisses. “That bastard stole it with the help of—”

“The Grey King,” Munakata finishes for the Red King.

///

Kei comes back to Tetsurou’s apartment with him, which doesn’t surprise him. They lie together in bed, just soaking in each other’s warmth.

“It wasn’t any of us’ fault,” Tetsurou decides to break the silence. “We didn’t know the Grey King was Hisui’s trump card.”

“But we _knew_ that the Grey King survived the Kagutsu Crater incident,” Kei groans. “We could’ve prevented what happened today!”

“By what? His mist ability is too powerful to counter,” he counters. “And wasn’t it Fushimi’s duty to report the survival of Iwafune to Munakata?”

“We decided to keep that out since we didn’t know how much of in agreement that Grey King was with the Green King,” Kei whimpers, and that’s when Tetsurou realises his boyfriend is crying. “Thought they were in a temporary alliance or something.”

“You’re still human, Kei, you are allowed to make mistakes,” he wraps his arms tighter around his boyfriend. “I still love you, nothing’s changed. You are still you.”

Tetsurou holds onto his boyfriend until he falls asleep. He leaves the bed only to come back with a wet cloth to wipe Kei’s face clean.

“The fact that I love you won’t ever change, Tsukishima Kei, this I swear,” he whispers against Kei’s lips, then tries to go to sleep himself.

///

Tetsurou wakes up with Kei in his arms, who’s still sound asleep.

“Kei?” Tetsurou kisses his boyfriend on the nose. “Kei, wake up. You may not have work today, but I’m still hungry.”

“… cook yourself,” his boyfriend sounds more tired than grumpy (if there was such a difference regarding Kei) and tries to shoo him away.

“I’m not some stray cat trying to steal your food, so wake your cute little ass up,” he tries to negotiate. “I’ll buy you a strawberry shortcake later.”

“I have you saved as ‘stray cat’ in my PDA…” Kei still sounds asleep.

A loud emergency alert sure does a better job at waking Kei up than Tetsurou did.

Twenty minutes later, they’re both dressed and gathered at the neutral territory the Red Clan and the Blue Clan agreed on. Mikoto-san and Munakata are at the raised dais-like structure for an announcement.

“The Silver King, Adolf K. Weismann, as devised a plan for us. He has calculated a way to focus his Damocles Sword’s energy to a single point so he can destroy _only_ the Dresden Slate.”

“Is that possible?” Tetsurou hears one of his Clanmates, Eric, grumble.

“Does he need _us_ though?” Fushimi’s objection rings loud and clear. “He’s the all-powerful Silver King. Surely he can do this on his own?”

“Fushimi-kun,” Awashima warns Sceptre 4’s third-in-command.

They meet up with the Silver King and his new Clan at the location of JUNGLE’s base. Fushimi, being the tech genius he is, hacked the system again and the elevator pops up. Watching the Blues do their ‘men draw your swords’ thing is as boring as ever, but watching Kei doing it is definitely hot.

“I think fifteen people maximum for this thing?” Fushimi informs them. “You’re coming with us.”

Tetsurou wants to ask who this _us_ is, but soon finds out it’s the Kings, Kusanagi, Awashima, Fushimi, Yata, and his boyfriend. He joins them without much complaints.

“Kuroo-kun, was it?” Munakata snags his attention. “The strain who joined HOMRA. Your ability is quite… interesting.”

“Thanks?” he glances at Kei, who just shrugs. “Are you trying to recruit me?”

“Heavens, no,” Munakata chuckles. “Suoh would kill me if I did.”

“I would kill you without any real reason,” Mikoto-san retorts sweetly.

“Seri-chan—”

“No,” Awashima declines without hearing it all, making both Kei and Fushimi snicker.

“But!”

“No means no,” it could be Tetsurou’s imagination, but it certainly sounded like the Lieutenant of Sceptre 4 was enjoying this.

“Remember that we serve our roles as distractions,” Munakata reminds the group. “That means no acting out on your own, Suoh.”

“Why are you picking on me like that, Munakata?” the air around Mikoto-san glows with his Red Aura, but it doesn’t do anything apart from that.

“As I was saying… I’d say our combat skills are the topmost in our respective Clans… we should be able to hold on our own for anything to come,” Munakata finishes. “We’re simply opening the path for—”

The fog appears as ominously as ever, blocking out their field of view.

“Kei?”

“Tetsurou?”

“Misaki?”

“Everyone, stay calm and quiet,” Awashima yells.

“How foolish you may be, Kuroo-kun. Coming back here on your own?” Iwafune’s voice rings out. “You even brought two Kings with you… no, the third one’s headed for Nagare, isn’t he?”

“We aren’t your—”

If not for Kei’s mid-range shield, Tetsurou is sure he would have been shot by the Grey King.

“Awashima-kun, Kusanagi-san, Yata-kun, Fushimi-kun, Tsukishima-kun, and Kuroo-kun! Mikoto and I shall handle the Grey King so you six advance forth!” Munakata orders just as another gunshot goes off.

“Are you going to disobey your King?” Tetsurou hears Yata somewhere from his right.

Surprisingly, the fog opens up, but he only sees his boyfriend, Yata, and Fushimi.

“Iwafune is being a little bitch, isn’t he?” he muses.

“It seems Awashima-san and Kusanagi-san are separated from us,” Fushimi clicks his tongue. “And I can guess that—”

A dark shadow lands in the middle of the hallway, though Tetsurou has no idea where the fuck Mishakuji dropped from. He tosses that thought aside as he readies himself, encasing his hands in the fiery cat’s paws.

“I thought you’d be smart enough to stay away from this place, Tetsurou-chan,” Mishakuji chuckles. “We have a new policy though… since we can’t have you join us; you deserve to die.”

Tetsurou is barely able to block out Mishakuji’s attacks. Kei keeps throwing icicle spears at the Green Clansman, but that barely fazes him. Mishakuji also effectively parries away the knives Fushimi throws at him.

_I’m going to die_ , Tetsurou muses to himself, taking his dagger out of his boot. _Might as well as die with a style_.

He concentrates on his Red Aura and sets his blade on fire. Mishakuji makes a vaguely surprised expression before charging forward. He parries and blocks the best he can, but he’s already exhausted from using his Aura at the same time. He tried a couple times to calm down Mishakuji’s mood, but that didn’t work since the anger and excitement the older man felt were way stronger.

“Is that all you got?” Tetsurou finds himself trapped against the wall, Mishakuji’s blade keeping him in place. He gestures at Yata to not do anything impulsive.

“I—”

Everything happens so fast. When Mishakuji’s blade draws an arc, Kei is suddenly in front of him, _without his Blue Aura shield_. Mishakuji makes a disgusted face before running off.

“Kei?” Tetsurou cradles Kei’s bloody body in his arms. “No, he was supposed to kill _me_! You got in the way!”

“I’m sorry…” Kei tries to speak, spluttering out blood. “I’m sorry we can’t… have the future you probably planned for us… I can’t have you die… I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologising? You’re—” not caring that Kei’s lifeblood is on his lips, he kisses the already-cold lips. “You can’t leave me, Kei…”

Tetsurou feels a warm hand on his shoulder, and is surprised that it’s Fushimi.

“Meeting you and… falling in love with you… was the best thing I could experience… even if it was for a short while,” Kei’s bloody hand reaches for Tetsurou’s face. “I love you… I’m sorry…”

“Kei?” Tetsurou panics when his boyfriend’s hand drops. “Kei? You can’t…”

A sorrow he can’t begin to fathom wells when the realisation dawns on him. He grabs Kei’s bloody hand and rubs it against his cheek as tears fall down without holding back.

And that’s how Kusanagi finds him, clutching onto Kei’s dead body, after the Dresden Slate is destroyed.

///

**_Two weeks later_ **

“Truthfully, I haven’t known Kei that long. But I knew him. I knew the fragile boy he tried to hide. I could share the laughter and his warmth for the six months we were together. At first, I thought he was a stuck-up no-good son of a bitch. He was quite rude to me, but I was rude to him too. I never thought he’d fall for me like the way I did for him. We shared our first kiss at the park we often went for our dates. I can still feel his touches, his kisses, when I go to bed. I still dream for him. In my dreams, I’m still with him; pathetic, I know. The last words he spoke to me were, ‘I love you. I’m sorry’, when he died for me. There won’t be… there won’t be a day I won’t miss him,” Tetsurou manages to finish the eulogy without bursting into tears.

The entirety of HOMRA and Sceptre 4 were invited to Kei’s funeral. They also sent one to Akiteru-san, but he couldn’t come.

_Tsukishima Kei  
son, dedicated worker, and honourable boyfriend_

The rain starts to pour down, mingling with tears streaking down Tetsurou’s face. He rubs his right thumb against the simple gold band on his left ring finger, a reminder to the promise he gave to Kei, regardless of the fact that he’s underground forever now.

_As long as I have this ring,_ Tetsurou brings his hand up to kiss the ring he got in honour of Tsukishima Kei _, I’ll always have you close to my heart._

**Author's Note:**

> I warned that this is a sad ending with an especially sad last line (or two).
> 
> How about a complementary SaruMi prequel/sequel?


End file.
